LIBRARY 

UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA 
VIS 


SAM    HOBART, 


THE    LOCOMOTIVE    ENGINEER. 


A     WORKINGMAN'S    SOLUTION    OF 
THE  LABOR   PROBLEM. 


BY 


JUSTIN   D.   FULTON,  D.D., 

AUTHOR  or  "TIMOTHY  GILBERT,"  "WOMAN  AS  GOD  MADE  HER,"  "SHOW  YOUB 
COLORS,"  "THE  WAY  OUT,"  ETC.,  ETC. 


NEW   YORK: 

FUNK  &  WAGNALLS,  PUBLISHERS, 
10  AND  12  DEY  STREET. 

TTTV  -r^v   rMT   r*  A  T  TTT/^T>-KTT  A 


Entered,  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1883,  by 

JUSTIN   D.   FULTON, 
In  the  Office  of  the  Librarian  of  Congress  at  Washington,  D.C. 


TO 

OFFICERS    AND    EMPLOYES 

OP 

THE    GREAT    RAILWAY    SYSTEM 

THIS    STORY    OF    A    LIFE    IS 


BY  ONE    WHO   APPRECIATES   THE   RESPONSIBILITIES 

OF   YOUR    POSITION   AND   DESIRES 

YOUR    PRESENT    AJ*D 

ETERNAL     HAPPINESS. 


CONTENTS.- 


PREFACE, 


CHAPTER    I. 
THE  MAN  AND  THE  HOUR,       ........       13 

CHAPTER    II. 
His  BOYHOOD,         .......         .         .         .21 

The  Surroundings  of  his  Birthplace,  Brighton  —  His  Early  Home  — 
The  Homes  of  the  Poor  —  Parental  Influence  —  Investments  in 
Youth. 

CHAPTER    III. 

HE  BECOMES  A  MACHINIST  AND  A  FIREMAN,      .....       28 

CHAPTER    IV. 
SAM  BECOMES  A  LOCOMOTIVE  ENGINEER,  ......       30 

THE  WORKING  MAX,        .........       40 

CHAPTER    V. 

THE    RAILROAD    ENGINEER   TAKES  A  WIFE  —  HENRY  WARD    BEECHKR 

MEETS  HIM  AND  DESCRIBES  HIM  -  THE  GLORY  OF  HIS  CONVERSION,       4ti 

CHAPTER    VI. 
SAM'S  TACT  IN  PREACHING  TEMPERANCE,  .....       C4 

CHAPTER    VII. 
SAM  AT  WORK  FOR  GOD,          ........       75 

CHAPTER    VIII. 
THE  BROTHERHOOD  OF  LOCOMOTIVE  ENGINEERS,        ....       83 


viii  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER    IX. 
THE  CONFLICT  BETWEEN  LABOR  AND  CAPITAL,  ....  110 

CHAPTER    X. 
THE  REPRESENTATIVES  OP  OUR  COMMERCIAL  LIFE— THEIR  OPPORTUNITY,     126 

CHAPTER    XI. 
SAM'S  FAITH,  OR   WHOM  SHALL  WE  TRUST?    .....     136 

CHAPTER    XII. 

THE  WORK  AMONO  RAILROAD  MEN — THE  NEED  OF  THIS  WOPK — ED- 
WARD D.  INGERSOLL,  THE  STORY  OF  HIS  LIFE  AND  WORK — CHRIST 
A  NECESSITY  FOR  MEN  WHO  TOIL, 146 

CHAPTER    XIII. 
THE  WASTED  SUBSTANCES — THE  STORY  OF  EDWARD  H.  UNIAC'S  FALL 

AND    SOME    OF   THE   SAD   INCIDENTS    IN   SAM'S  WORK,        .  .  .173 

CHAPTER    XIV. 

TEMPERANCE  AN  ADDED  FORCE — HENRY  WILSON — THE  PERIL  IN  WILD 

OATS — LESSONS  LEARNED  AT  THE  FARM  SCHOOL,  .         .         .185 

CHAPTER    XV. 

A  PROBLEM    HARD  TO   SOLVE:    Is   INTEMPERANCE  A    DISEASE   OR    A 

CRIME? 195 

CHAPTER    XVI. 

SAM'S  LOVE  FOR  THE  YOUNG— BARZILLAI  SNOW,  HIS  BROTHER-IN- 
LAW,  DYING  LIKE  A  HERO,  .......  206 

CHAPTER    XVII. 

THE  COURAGE  OF  SAM  HOBART  AND  OF  LOCOMOTIVE  ENGINEERS  AS 
A  CLASS — JOSEPH  A.  SEEDS,  OF  PENNSYLVANIA  CENTRAL  ;  JOHN 
MARROT,  OF  ENGLAND,  AND  OTHERS, 219 

CHAPTER    XVIII. 
SAM'S  LAST  RIDE — THE  ENGINEER  AT  REST, 234 


PREFACE. 


THE  life  of  Sam  Hobart,  the  locomotive  engineer,  is  written 
to  portray  the  possibilities  of  happiness  and  usefulness  within 
the  reach  of  a  workingman  content  to  fill  the  sphere  of  useful- 
ness awarded  him,  and  willing  to  lend  a  helping  hand  to  do  work 
for  God  and  man  lying  near  him  and  waiting  for  him. 

Charles  Lamb  served  as  a  clerk  in  the  East  India  Company, 
and  filled  such  a  place  in  literature  and  in  society  as  makes  us 
forget  how  he  earned  his  living,  and  remember  only  that  he 
wrote  the  "  Essays  of  Elia,"  and  lived  and  labored  and  com- 
panioned with  the  great  of  his  time,  and  in  so  doing  became  a 
benefactor  for  all  time.  Elihu  Burritt  was  a  blacksmith,  and 
became  learned  in  languages  and  rich  in  healthful  influences 
that  have  blessed  American  civilization,  and  help  now  to  glorify 
it  in  the  eyes  of  the  peoples  of  all  lands,  and  he  remained  the 
Learned  Blacksmith  to  the  last. 

George  Stephenson,  born  in  Wylam-on-the-Tyne  June  9th, 
1781 — the  engineer  of  a  coal  mine,  the  inventor  of  the  locomo- 
tive in  1815,  first  to  drag  coal-cars  along  a  tramway,  and 
afterward  fastened  to  a  passenger  coach  in  1828,  the  year  Sam 
Hobart  was  born — developed  into  one  of  the  ablest  of  engineers 
and  one  of  the  greatest  of  inventors,  and  was  content  thus  to 
remain  to  the  day  of  his  death.  When  asked  to  stand  for 
Parliament,  he  declined,  saying,  "  Politics  have  no  stability  ; 


X  PREFACE. 

they  shift  about  like  the  sand  of  the  sea  ;  they  are  all  matters 
of  fancy,  matters  of  theory,  and  I  should  feel  out  of  my  ele- 
ment among  them  ;"  and  so  he  remained  George  Stephenson 
the  engineer. 

Sam  Hobart  was  willing  to  be  an  engineer.  Tie  might  have 
gone  West  and  occupied  great  positions  of  trust,  but  he  was 
content  to  allow  others  to  be  president,  superintendent,  or 
heads  of  department,  and  he  remain  engineer  and  work  as  best 
he  could.  As  such  a  life  is  a  necessity  in  the  perfection  and 
working  of  the  railway  system,  the  most  complete  and  exten- 
sive in  the  world — a  system  extending  its  lines  of  communica- 
tion from  ocean  to  ocean  and  from  the  Lakes  to  the  Gulf ;  a 
system  which  is  even  now  pushing  its  way  through  Mexico,  and 
must  ere  long  embrace  South  America,  bringing  to  our  tables 
the  grapes  and  fruits  grown  in  the  gardens,  vineyards,  and 
orchards  of  the  Pacific  coast,  beef  from  the  great  pasture  fields 
of  Texas,  coal  from  the  coal-fields,  minerals  from  the  moun- 
tains, and  traffic  from  India,  China,  Japan,  and  South  America, 
because  confidence  in  commerce  is  built  not  on  money,  not  on 
brain,  but  on  Christian  character — the  writer  will  be  pardoned 
for  believing  that  this  attempt  made  to  portray  a  railroad  man, 
at  work  as  a  railroad  man  while  he  earned  his  livelihood,  then 
occupying  spare  time  and  energy  in  the  promotion  of  such  in. 
terests  as  are  identified  with  the  weal  of  humanity,  is  a  health- 
ful contribution  to  the  working  capital  of  the  Christian  Church, 
which  if  properly  used  must  fulfil  an  important  mission  among 
the  men  of  toil,  and  gird  with  confidence  and  hope  those  con- 
fronting fields  white  with  harvests  or  standing  in  doors  opening 
to  marvellous  and  unreached  possibilities.  It  is  known  that 
over  a  million  of  men  are  employed  upon  the  125,000  miles  of 
railway  in  America.  Over  a  fortieth  of  the  population  are. 


PREFACE.  XI 

engaged  in  railroad  work.  The  men  called  and  known  as  railway 
kings  are  not  the  creatures  of  chance  or  the  accidents  of  the 
hour  :  they  are  men  of  destiny,  created  to  untie  the  perplex- 
ing knots  which  smaller  men  have  tied  in  the  hope  of  selfishly 
checking  the  tide  of  emigration  and  traffic,  which  by  their  aid 
has  burst  through  every  opposing  obstacle  and  streamed  outward 
and  onward,  like  an  unbanked  river,  rejoicing  in  its  ongoing 
flow.  These  men  dared  to  expect  great  things,  and  so  they  went 
forward  to  achieve  them.  They  cannot  work  alone.  To  make 
this  railway  system  a  success,  true  and  trustworthy  men  must 
be  found  to  do  the  work  required.  How  shall  these  be  grown  ? 
is  the  problem  of  the  future.  This  book  tells  how  one  s*joh 
man  was  grown.  Let  us  hope  that  it  may  help  to  build  many 
more.  J.  D.  F. 


SAM    HOBART. 


CHAPTER   I. 

THE    MAN    AND    THE    HOUR. 

SAM  HOBART  was  associated  with  power,  and  believed  in 
power.  Like  Abraham  Lincoln,  he  had  great  respect  for 
augers  that  would  bore,  and  augers  that  would  not  bore  he  had 
no  use  for.  He  had  no  place  in  his  heart  or  in  his  home  or  on 
his  locomotive'  for  the  merely  ornamental.  To  the  useful  he 
was  a  devotee.  A  mere  dilettante,  a  man  who  follows  an  art  or 
a  calling  without  a  purpose,  was  to  him  utterly  valueless.  He 
was  a  man  of  purpose.  He  was  well  built.  He  had  a  stalwart 
frame,  a  broad  chest,  a  big  arm  and  leg,  thick  neck,  good- 
sized  head,  in  voice  at  times  a  son  of  thunder,  and  at  other 
times  soft  and  sweet-toned  as  a  child  ;  a  large  blue  eye,  auburn 
hair,  upper  lip  shaved,  a  long  flowing  red  beard  beneath  it ;  the 
step  of  a  giant,  the  will  of  a  despot,  and  withal  with  those  he 
loved  the  heart  of  a  woman. 

In  an  audience  he  would  attract  attention  by  his  gravity  of 
demeanor,  a  look  of  being  ready  for  business.  He  could  not 
bear  trifling.  He  had  no  wit.  He  cared  nothing  for  a  story 
that  would  make  people  laugh.  He  was  quiet  as  a  locomotive 
unfired  when  off  duty.  But  light  him  up  with  a  purpose,  and 
he  moved  in  such  a  way  and  with  such  a  bearing  that  instinc- 
tively men  gave  way  before  him.  He  was  distinguished  for 
hard  sense  and  an  immense  business  faculty.  As  I  think  of 
him  when  first  I  saw  him,  I  am  reminded  of  the  hull  of  a 


14  SAM    HOB  ART. 

steamer  brought  to  the  dock  to  receive  its  motive  power.  Natu- 
rally he  had  the  framework  of  a  great  man.  He  did  his  man- 
ual labor  as  did  thousands  of  others.  But  there  was  nothing 
special  to  write  about  or  think  of  until  he  received  Jesus  Christ 
into  his  heart.  Then  power  came  to  him  to  become  a  son  of 
God,  "  which  was  born  not  of  blood,  nor  of  the  will  of  the 
flesh,  nor  of  tie  will  of  man,  but  of  God,"  and  the  word  in 
him  was  made  flesh,  and  dwelt  among  us.  Men  saw  it  and  felt 
it.  Before  this  great  event  he  was  bold,  reckless,  hard,  and 
pushing  ;  after  the  machinery  of  redemptive  grace  was  set  up  in 
his  soul,  he  was  thoughtful,  prudent,  wise,  indomitable  and 
benevolent  in  look,  in  action,  and  in  purpose.  Henceforth  he 
had  no  ambition  in  business  directions  to  be  more  than  an 
engineer.  He  did  not  seek  or  desire  promotion.  He  was  con- 
tent to  do  his  work,  and  that  finished  he  delighted  to  engage  in 
philanthropic  and  Christian  enterprises.  He  was  not  an  in- 
ventor, nor  had  he  claims  to  rank  as  a  genius.  He  never  ac- 
quired a  competence.  He  died  as  he  lived,  poor  in  purse,  but 
rich  in  faith  and  in  good  works.  He  was  everybody's  man, 
because  he  worked  for  everybody.  He  was  God's  man  in 
what  he  believed  to  be  God's  world,  and  served  him  with  dili- 
gence and  with  delight.  He  believed  in  the  brotherhood  of 
man.  He  was  not  a  Chartist,  nor  a  Socialist,  nor  a  Communist. 
He  was  an  engineer  of  the  Boston  and  Albany  Railroad,  capa- 
ble of  fulfilling  his  high  trust  and  of  earning  his  money,  and 
entitled  to  his  opinions.  Anywhere  and  everywhere  he  dared 
avow  them,  and  if  men  interfered  with  his  prerogatives  they  did 
so  at  their  own  risk.  He  loved  great,  strong,  and  true  men, 
and  mated  with  the  sturdiest  characters  in  the  realms  of  poli- 
tics, of  finance,  and  of  religion,  as  if  they  were  yokefellows. 
Henry  Ward  Beecher,  who  frequently  rode  with  him  on  his 
locomotive,  recently  said  :  "  If  I  could  have  written  down  in 
the  words  used  by  him  the  remarkable  utterances  he  made  to 
me  regarding  God's  love  for  man,  and  the  way  to  bring  men  to 
obtain  just  and  right  conceptions  of  God  ;  if  I  could  record  his 
experiences  in  seeking  to  help  men  and  lead  them  to  a  higher 


THE    MAN    AND    THE    HOUR.  15 

life,  I  could  give  to  world ngmen  the  best  book  ever  written 
for  them." 

Rev.  J.  O.  Peck,  D.P.,  of  the  Methodist  Church,  for  years 
settled  in  Worcester,  gave  a  similar  testimony;  and  Edwin  I). 
Ingersoll,  Railroad  Secretary  of  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.,  who  trav- 
ersed the  field  of  his  labors  years  after  he  went  higher,  said  : 
"  I  meet  with  his  Christian  influence  even  now,  everywhere  in 
New  England,  and  hundreds  of  railroad  men  trace  their  con- 
version to  his  labors." 

As  a  railroad  man  he  believed  himself  to  have  been  born  at 
a  propitious  time  in  what  he  regarded  as  the  railroad  century. 

It  is  a  significant  fact  that,  though  the  conception  of  a  road- 
way on  which  to  move  heavy  blocks  of  stone  dates  back  to  the 
time  when  the  Pyramids  of  Egypt  were  built  ;  though  the  Ap- 
pian  Way  of  ancient  Rome,  made  of  solid  blocks  of  stone  laid 
in  parallel  lines,  was  the  thought,  born  of  necessity,  which 
pointed  forward  to  the  railway  system  now  in  vogue  ;  though 
the  Dutchmen  in  Albany,  N.  Y.,  and  the  Yankees  at  Quincy, 
Mass.,  constructed  a  roadbed,  modelled  after  the  Appian  Way, 
from  Albany  to  Schenectady,  and  from  the  quarries  of  granite 
to  the  river,  yet  the  world  waited  until  about  the  year  Sam  was 
born  before  charters  were  given  in  England,  France,  and  the 
United  States  to  construct  railways  worthy  of  the  name.  In 
1826  charters  were  granted  by  the  Parliament  in  England  and 
by  the  legislatures  of  States  in  the  Western  Republic  to  con- 
struct railroads.  On  July  4th,  1828,  the  year  in  which  Sam 
Hobart  was  born,  the  first  blow  was  struck  in  the  construction 
of  the  Baltimore  and  Ohio  Railroad,  and  in  1830  the  Albany 
and  Schenectady  Railroad  was  commenced.  In  1831,  384  pas- 
sengers were  dragged  daily  by  horses  over  its  limited  line.  In 
regard  to  the  introduction  of  the  locomotive,  there  is  some- 
thing quiet  as  strange.  The  story  of  George  Stephenson's 
life  was  a  favorite  book  with  the  Boston  engineer.  He  never 
tired  of  speaking  of  that  boy  of  the  collieries,  who  was  temper- 
ate while  others  were  dissipated,  frugal  while  others  were  profli- 
gate, and  industrious  while  others  were  idle,  used  of  God  to 


10  SAM    1IOHAKT. 

bring  to  comparative  perfection  the  instrument  which  lias  had 
more  to  do  with  promoting  the  civilization  of  the  million  than 
any  other  agency  apart  from  the  Gospel  of  Christ. 

J.  F.  Loyson,  in  his  life  of  Stcphenson,  gives  this  graphic 
sketch  of  this  wonderful  fact  :  "  More  than  two  centuries  ago  a 
visit  was  paid  a  French  madhouse  by  an  English  nobleman,  the 
Marquis  of  Worcester.  As  he  passed  through  the  wards,  con- 
taining the  cages  wherein  the  most  unfortunate  of  their  species 
were  confined  like  so  many  wild  animals,  the  attendant  who 
accompanied  him  described  the  various  hallucinations  peculiar 
to  the  inmates  of  that  abode  of  the  hopeless.  As  they  ap- 
proached one  of  the  caged  cells,  the  steps  of  the  visitor  were 
suddenly  arrested  by  a  pitiful  cry  and  the  terrible  appearance 
of  a  man  whose  cadaverous  and  careworn  countenance  peered 
through  the  massive  bars  which  his  thin,  bloodless  hands  tremu- 
lously clutched.  The  ashy  lips  from  which  the  cry  had  pro- 
ceeded again  parted,  and  a  voice  hoarse  and  husky,  but  fierce 
in  its  earnestness,  exclaimed,  '  I  am  not  a  madman.  I  am  the 
discoverer  of  a  power  of  incalculable  moment  to  mankind/ 

"  '  What  has  this  man.discovered  ?  '  inquired  the  marquis. 

"  '  A  mere  trifle,'  the  keeper  answered  derisively  ;  '  but  he 
wrote  a  book  about  it  nevertheless.  Why,  you  would  never 
guess  what  the  discovery  was — to  use  the  steam  of  boiling  water 
for  the  navigation  of  ships,  the  driving  of  carriages,  and  a  host 
of  other  miracles  which  are  equally  incapable  of  performance." 
Such  was  the  fate  of  him  who,  in  all  probability,  projected  the 
idea  of  steam  locomotion,  Solomon  de  Cans,  a  native  of  Nor- 
mandy, and  such  the  reception  given  to  a  discovery  calculated 
to  confer  stupendous  benefits  not  only  upon  France  but  the 
world.  The  age  was  not,  however,  propitious  to  scientific  or 
mechanical  research.  Supineness  in  the  court  and  superstition 
in  the  Church,  together  with  the  antagonism  of  officials  toward 
anything  which  took  the  shape  of  innovation,  conspired  to  hold 
back  from  society  for  a  time  the  advantages  which  have  since 
attended  the  construction  of  the  steam  engine. 

Confident  in  the  soundness  of  his  conclusions,  poor  Solomon 


THE    MAX    AND   THE    HOUR.  17 

de  Cans  had  laid  a  description  of  his  plans  before  the  King  of 
France  ;  but  the  mind  of  the  monarch  was  not  fitted  to  deal 
with  such  complicated  details  as  were  therein  presented,  and 
the  readiest  way  to  dispose  of  the  matter  was  to  treat  the  Nor- 
man genius  and  his  discovery  with  contempt.  Turned  over 
to  a  cardinal  of  the  Church,  who  became  exasperated  by  re- 
peated and  urgent  appeals,  he  consigned  him  to  a  madhouse. 
And  Soloman  de  Caus  and  his  premature  project  was  lost  to 
his  country  and  mankind.  It  was  reserved  for  the  nineteenth 
century  to  give  a  welcome  to  the  locomotive.  There  is  reason 
to  believe  that  the  locomotive  was  an  American  invention.  It 
is  certain  that  in  1782  Oliver  Evans,  of  Philadelphia,  patented 
a  steam-wagon,  the  drawings  and  specifications  of  which  were 
sent  to  England  in  1787,  and  again  in  1794-95.  In  1784,  two 
years  after  Evans's  invention  in  America,  Watt  patented  a 
locomotive. 

Little  or  nothing  was  done  with  them.  For  some  reason 
everything  seemed  to  wait  the  dawn  of  the  nineteenth  century. 

Richard  Trevethick,  born  in  the  parish  of  Illogan,  Cornwall, 
April,  13th,  1771,  was  an  inventor  of  whom  the  world  has 
heard  much.  Though  a  child  of  genius,  he  died  penniless.  In 

1801  he  started  the  iron  horse  on  the  public  highway  ;  in 

1802  he  obtained  a  patent  for  a  locomotive.     It  was  on  the 
28th  of  December,  1801,  the  travelling  engine  took  its  depart- 
ure fom  Camborne  Church  town  for  Tehidy.     ' '  The  carriage/' 
says  Mr.   Davies  Gilbert,  "  broke  down,  after  travelling  very 
well  about  400  yards.     Then  it  was  forced  under  some  shelter, 
and  the  parties  adjourned  to  the  hotel  and  comforted  their 
hearts  with  a  roast  goose  and  drinks,  where,  forgetful  of  the  en- 
gine, its  water  boiled  away.     The  iron  became  red-hot,   and 
nothing  that  was  combustible  remained  either  of  the   engine 
or  the  house,  thus  falling  a  victim  to  the  punch-drinking  pro- 
pensity of  the  period. " 

A  similar  result  might  have  been  reached  had  not  the  foster- 
father  of  the  locomotive  been  temperate  in  habit  and  irrepressible 
because  of  his  determination  and  pluck.  The  steam  locomo- 


18  SAM    HOB  ART. 

tive,  the  material  transformer  of  the  world,  has  a  remarkable 
history.  As  has  been  said,  "  It  was  not  born  on  the  rails,  but 
on  the  common  road  ;  and  a  tremendous  baby-giant  it  was,  tear- 
ing up  its  cradle  in  such  furious  fashion  that  men  were  terrified 
by  it,  and  tried  their  best  to  condemn  it  to  inactivity,  just  as  a 
-weak  and  foolish  father  might  lock  up  his  unruly  boy  and  re- 
strain him  perforce,  instead  of  training  him  wisely  in  the  way 
he  should  go.'7  But  the  progenitors  of  the  iron  horse  were  like 
their  herculean  child,  men  of  mettle.  They  fought  a  gallant 
fight  for  their  darling's  freedom,  and  came  off  victorious  !  As 
with  the  railroad,  so  with  the  locomotive.  They  attained  their 
place  in  or  near  1828.  Then  it  was  that  a  premium  was  offered 
of  £500  for  the  best  locomotive  that  could  be  produced,  in 
accordance  with  certain  conditions.  These  were  : 

"  That  the  chimney  should  emit  no  smoke  ;  that  the  engine 
should  be  on  springs  ;  that  it  should  not  weigh  more  than  six 
tons,  or  four  and  a  half  tons  if  it  had  only  four  wheels  ;  that  it 
should  be  able  to  draw  a  load  of  twenty  tons  at  the  rate  of  ten 
miles  an  hour,  with  a  pressure  of  fifty  pounds  to  the  square 
inch  in  the  boiler ;  and  that  it  should  not  cost  more  than 
£500." 

The  iron  horse  was  now  at  last  about  to  assume  its  right  posi- 
tion. It  was  no  longer  an  infant,  but  a  powerful  stripling, 
though  still  far  from  its  full  growth — as  far  as  six  tons  is  from 
sixty. 

It  was  October  6th,  1829,  when  the  memorable  trial  of  loco- 
motives took  place.  It  was  to  continue  eight  days.  The  four 
exhibited  were  the  "  Novelty,"  "  Sanspareil,"  "Rocket," 
and  "Perseverance,"  built  respectively  by  Messrs.  Braithwaite 
&  Ericsson,  Timothy  Hackworth,  11.  Stephenson  &  Co.,  and 
Burstall. 

The  Rocket  looked  as  if  it  were  all  funnel — a  stunted  body 
with  a  long,  very  long  neck.  Along  a  level  stretch  of  railroad, 
two  miles  long,  each  engine  was  required  to  make  twenty  double 
journeys  during  the  day,  at  an  average  speed  of  not  less  than 
ten  miles  per  hour.  The  Rocket  made  the  time  and  more,  but 


THE    MAX    AND   THE    HOUR.  19 

was  not  at  the  outset  a  favorite  ;  as  people  said;  "  Its  appear- 
ance was  against  it." 

The  Novelty  was  a  favorite  with  spectators  and  judges.  It 
looked  compact  and  handy,  and  its  lines  were  harmonious  and 
in  keeping  with  the  purpose  for  which  it  had  been  built.  Its 
water  and  fuel  were  carried  without  the  aid  of  a  separate 
tender,  and  the  weight  of  the  whole  was  less  than  three  tons. 
While  tiavelling  its  experimental  journey  it  occasionally  moved 
at  the  rate  per  hour  of  twenty-four  miles,  but  on  the  second 
day  of  the  trial  the  blast  bellows  gave  out  The  boiler  of  the 
Sanspareil  also  showed  a  defect,  and  the  Perseverance  failed 
because  it  could  not  go  faster  than  six  miles  an  hour.  The 
Rocket  won  the  day  because  it  had  the  "  go"  in  it.  It  not 
only  made  thirty  miles  an  hour,  but  it  drew  thirteen  tons1 
weight  in  wagons  at  the  rate  of  thirty-five  miles  an  hour.  The 
old  engine  grew  handsomer  every  moment,  and  before  the  third 
day  was  over  people  said,  "  She  did  not  look  so  bad  after  all." 
The  Novelty  tried  it  again,  but  bursting  its  pipes  ended  its 
hopes.  The  Sanspareil  was  similarly  unfortunate,  and  the 
Rocket,  by  Stephenson,  received  the  prize. 

Could  a  man  at  that  time  have  seen  in  a  vision  of  the  future, 
as  Henry  George  says,  "  the  steamship  taking  the  place  of  the 
sailing  vessel,  the  railroad  train  of  the  wagon,  the  reaping- 
machine  of  the  scythe,  the  threshing-machine  of  the  flail  ;  could 
he  have  heard  the  throb  of  the  engines  that  in  obedience  to  the 
human  will  and  for  the  satisfaction  of  human  desire  exert  a 
power  greater  than  all  the  men  and  all  the  beasts  of  burden  of 
the  earth  combined  ;  could  he  have  seen  the  forest  tree  trans- 
formed into  finished  lumber — into  doors,  sashes,  blinds,  boxes, 
or  barrels,  with  hardly  the  touch  of  human  hand  ;  the  great 
workshops  where  boots  and  shoes  are  turned  out  by  the  case 
with  less  labor  than  the  old-fashioned  cobbler  could  have  put 
on  a  sole  ;  the  factories  where,  under  the  eye  of  a  girl,  cotton 
becomes  cloth  faster  than  hundreds  of  stalwart  weavers  could 
have  turned  it  out  with  their  hand-looms  ;  could  he  have  seen 
steam  hammers  shaping  mammoth  shafts  and  mighty  anchors, 


20  SAM    HOB  ART. 

and  delicate  machinery  making  tiny  watches  ;  the  diamond 
drill  cutting  through  the  heart  of  the  rocks  and  coal-oil  sparing 
the  whale  ;  could  he  have  realized  the  enormous  saving  of  labor 
resulting  from  improved  facilities  of  exchange  and  communi- 
cation— sheep  killed  in  Australia  eaten  fresh  in  England,  and 
the  order  given  by  the  London  banker  in  the  afternoon  executed 
in  San  Francisco  in  the  morning  of  the  same  day  ;  could  he 
have  conceived  of  the  hundred  thousand  improvements  which 
these  only  suggest,  what  would  he  have  inferred  of  the  social 
condition  of  mankind  ?  His  heart  would  have  leaped  and  his 
nerves  would  have  thrilled,  as  one  from  a  height  beholds  just 
ahead  of  the  thirst- stricken  caravan  the  living  gleam  of  rustling 
woods  and  the  glint  of  living  waters."  Upon  this  vision, 
realized  and  fulfilled,  Sam  Hobart  looked  with  pleasing  satis- 
faction and  with  exuberant  hope. 


CHAPTER   IT. 

SAM       AS       A      BOY. 

The  Surroundings  of  His  Birthplace,  Brighton — His  Early 
Home — From  Cattle- Driver  to  the  Machine- Shop  and  the 
Locomotive — Some  Notions  he  Fought  when  a  Boy. 

SAMUEL  BROOKS  HOBART  was  born  iji  Brighton,  Mass.,  Octo- 
ber 12tli,  1828.  Brighton  is  the  cattle-market  of  Boston.  In 
the  olden  time  it  was  more  of  a  centre  of  influence  than  it  is  at 
the  present  time,  Then  drovers  gathered  their  cattle  from  the 
hillsides  and  valleys  of  New  England  and  brought  them  to 
Brighton  and  distributed  them  east  and  west,  as  the  case  might 
be.  Railroads  were  unknown,  and  the  cattle  were  driven,  not 
brought.  Many  an  emigrant  going  to  the  Far  West  bought  there 
his  team  and  cows,  the  one  to  bear  his  household  to  their  dis- 
tant home,  the  other  to  supply  the  wants  of  their  table  in  the 
wilderness.  To  the  South  cattle  and  mules  were  driven,  and 
Brighton  was  the  cattle-market  most  widely  known.  The  dro- 
vers, as  we  have  intimated,  did  business  on  a  smaller  scale  and 
on  a  different  basis  than  at  present.  Though  their  responsibil- 
ities were  not  as  great  or  their  business  so  large,  they  were 
more  exacting,  often  very  profane  and  dissipated.  They 
worked  hard,  kept  "  their  eye-teeth  cut,"  and  were  sharp  in 
trade,  and  sometimes  not  over-honest  in  deal.  Into  such  soci- 
ety this  boy  came  as  soon  as  he  could  walk.  lie  grew  up  to 
be  hard,  smart,  and  ready  for  a  job  that  brought  pennies  to  his 
pocket  and  pleasure  to  his  life. 

He  was  not  a  bad  boy,  as  the  word  goes — he  did  not  lie 
nor  steal  ;  nor  was  he  specially  a  good  one.  It  was  said  of  him 
while  very  young,  "  That  boy  will  take  care  of  himself."  He 
did  do  this,  and  much  more.  He  took  care  of  whatever  was 


22  SAM    HOB  ART. 

given  him  to  do.  He  was  naturally  a  success,  because  lie  inade 
a  success  of  whatever  was  committed  to  his  caro.  He  could 
fight  his  way.  He  somehow  came  out  first,  no  matter  when  he 
started  in.  He  was  hard  to  manage.  His  mother  was  proud 
of  him.  She  believed  in  honesty,  in  industry,  and  scorned 
lying  and  meanness.  She  would  not  take  advantage.  Sam 
agreed  with  her.  Sain  was  a  dutiful  son.  He  would  never 
shirk  a  task.  He  was  as  faithful  when  alone  as  when  at  work 
under  the  eye  of  a  master.  lie  became  a  favorite  with  the 
drovers.  He  would  get  as  good  time  out  of  a  drove  of  cattle 
as  any  man  around.  He  was  a  favorite  about  the  yards  because 
he  was  trustworthy.  He  was  utterly  fearless.  A  wild  bull  or 
an  infuriated  cow  found  in  his  unterrified  look,  his  command- 
ing speech,  and  determined  bearing  that  before  which  they 
must  yield.  As  with  beasts,  so  was  lie  with  men.  Rouse  him, 
get  him  into  motion,  and  nothing  could  daunt  him.  He  has 
entered  houses  full  of  fighting,  of  cursing,  and  where  wild  and 
crazed  drunkards  were  in  almost  the  act  of  murder,  and  he  was 
as  calm  and  self-possessed  as  a  rock  amid  the  wild  surges  of  a 
boisterous  sea.  He  could  take  a  mighty  man  by  the  throat 
with  one  hand,  hold  another  off,  and  put  down  a  fight  as  a  man 
would  trample  out  a  lire  just  kindling  into  flame. 

His  schooling  was  picked  up  at  intervals  in  the  New  England 
school-house.  He  could  read,  write  and  cipher.  His  book 
knowledge  was  limited.  His  knowledge  of  men  was  most 
profound.  He  seemed  by  instinct  or  intuition  to  know  what 
was  in  men.  He  admired  boldness,  fearlessness,  and  fidelity. 
David  Crockett's  motto  was  his  :  "  Be  sure  vou  are  ri^ht,  and 
then  go  ahead.7' 

A  boy  ran  a  great  risk  that  interfered  with  his  or  with  his 
friends'  rights.  He  never  looked  mad  when  he  was  going  to 
do  a  desperate  deed.  He  would  come  up  to  a  boy  that  was 
playing  bully  over  some  weaker  party,  and  in  a  polite  way  inti- 
mate that  it  would  be  advisable  to  "  let  up"  on  him  and  "  take 
some  one  of  his  size."  "  Perhaps  you  would  like  to  take  it 
up."  '  No  objection,"  Sam  would  reply,  and  with  a  smile  on 


SAM    AS    A    BOY.  23 

his  face  and  with  desperation  in  his  heart  would  go  in  and  do 
his  best.  There  was  no  fear  in  his  composition.  He  expected 
to  win.  He  had  great  dignity  of  character,  and  enjoyed  it  in 
others.  He  never  desired  that  men  should  try  and  get  down 
to  him  ;  he  much  preferred  climbing  up  to  them,  if  indeed 
climbing  was  necessary.  He  became  a  judge  of  cattle,  of  their 
weight  and  condition  ;  was  consulted  in  the  yards  when  a  boy 
as  if  he  had  been  an  owner.  He  believed  in  right  as  right,  and 
that  right  was  might.  He  was  trustworthy  to  his  employers 
and  obedient  to  his  mother.  She  could  rely  on  him.  This 
characteristic  made  him  largely  what  he  afterward  became. 
His  employers  rested  with  faith  upon  his  ability  to  brush  away 
difficulties  and  almost  defy  impossibilities. 

He  was  not  the  person  to  give  up  his  purpose  if  his  mind 
was  once  set  upon  having  or  doing  a  certain  thing.  Men  saw 
this  in  his  looks,  they  heard  it  in  his  voice.  Believing  that  it 
was  manly  to  smoke,  he  acquired  the  habit  of  using  tobacco, 
and  thinking  it  brave  to  take  the  name  of  God  in  vain,  he  be- 
came when  a  youth  terribly  profane. 

A  friend  writes  of  Sam  as  a  boy  in  these  words  : 

"  He  was  energetic,  never  lazy,  would  travel  on  foot  miles 
to  aid  a  drover  with  his  cattle  for  a  few  pennies,  and  then  be 
rewarded,  aks  he  has  often  told  me,  by  the  man's  taking  a 
handful  of  change  from  his  pocket,  and,  looking  it  over,  and 
selecting  the  smoothest  fourpenny  bit  he  could  find,  and  hand- 
ing it  to  Sam.  Sam  would  take  the  poor  little  piece  and  rub  it 
industriously  on  his  jacket  sleeve  to  try  to  bring  out  the  pillars 
to  plainer  view,  so  that  he  could  pass  it  for  six  cents,  what  he 
feared  no  person  used  to  handling  money  would  count  worth 
more  than  five. 

u  He  labored  hard  when  a  boy.  He  would  rise  early  in  the 
morning,  and  go  off  on  any  errand  that  promised  him  remunera- 
tion. How  tired  he  got,  as  he  walked  mile  after  mile,  occa- 
sionally running  after  refractory  cattle  !  Boys  do  not  work 
now  as  he  worked  ;  they  would  think  they  would  be  killed,  he 
said,  with  half  the  labor  he  performed.  This  helped  to  make 


'24  SAM     II 015 A  KT. 

him  the  energetic,  persevering  man  that  lie  eventually  became. 
His  indomitable  will  would  carry  all  before  it.  Naturally  of  a 
hasty,  impulsive  temperament,  he  could  not  brook  delay  or  any 
obstruction  in  his  path,  and  if  such  occurred  he  would  swear 
till  all  quailed  befor  him." 

No  one  can  look  upon  that  brave,  struggling  boy  without 
regretting  that  some  large  hearted  Christian  man  had  not  seen 
him  and  invested  in  him.  A  Sabbath-school  and  a  Chris- 
tian teacher  of  tact  and  ability  would  have  been  of  inesti- 
mable value  to  him.  Few  think  of  the  difference  between  the 
growth  of  a  tree  that  was  in  rich  soil  and  had  good  care  from 
the  beginning,  and  a  tiee  un watched  and  untended,  broken  by 
storms,  scarred  by  rude  treatment,  and  left  without  being 
grafted  to  grow  only  such  fruit  as  is  natural,  and  is  usually 
small  if  not  mean.  There  is  meaning  in  the  words,  li  As  the 
twig  is  bent  the  tree  is  inclined."  Sam  was  warm-hearted. 
lie  grew  up  to  hate  strong  drink.  But  his  mind  was  uncult.- 
u red  and  undeveloped  to  an  extent  that  always  gave  him  a 
sense  of  poverty  in  mental  calibre  and  filled  him  with  sorrow. 

Investments  in  youth  pay  as  do  no  other  investments.  It  is 
a  noticeable  fact  that  in  Great  Britain  and  in  the  older  port 
of  the  United  States  men  are  bestowing  thought  upon  the  de- 
velopment of  the  brain,  and  the  culture  of  the  young  life  com- 
mitted to  their  caie.  The  history  of  the  Adams  family  in 
Massachusetts  livals  anything  in  the  annals  of  English  life, 
where  the  elder  Pitt  wrought  in  the  younger  and  made  him  at 
twenty-three  the  best  Minister  of  State  England  ever  li 
The  same  spirit  lived  in  and  blessed  Disraeli,  whose  father 
lived  and  wrought  in  his  boy  and  made  him  the  glory  of  au 
empire  on  whose  realms  the  sun  never  sets.  The  same  is  true 
of  the  Gladstone  of  the  past,  and  of  the  Premier  whose  name 
and  fame  will  forever  be  associated  with  the  brightest  annals  of 
English  history. 

Gardner  Colby  came  to   Boston   the  poorest  of  the  poor. 
His  mother  believed  in  him  and  built  on  him.      Having  gi 
his  heart  to  Christ  in  his  youth,  his  whole  nature  opened  south- 


SAM   AS   A   BOY.  25 

ward,  and  the  warm  breath  of  heaven  made  flowers  of  beauty, 
of  culture,  of  love  and  of  service  for  Christ  and  man  bud  and 
•blossom  in  his  young  life.  He  lived  for  the  youth  of  America, 
and  so  gave  his  name  to  the  college  in  Waterville,  Me.,  where 
he  was  born,  and  wrought  in  the  Theological  Seminary  of  New- 
ton, where  he  lived,  and,  dying,  left  children  cultured,  benevo- 
lent, and  enterprising,  to  perpetuate  his  name  and  widen  the 
channel  of  his  beneficent  thought. 

Brooklyn,  N.  Y.,  holds  to  her  heart  the  name  and  fame  of 
one  of  the  most  modest  and  unassuming  of  men,  who  has  given 
to  colleges,  to  hospitals,  to  retreats  for  the  young,  the  aged, 
sums  of  money  that  astonish  by  their  magnitude  and  at  the 
same  time  inspire  by  their  large-mindedness  and  comprehensive- 
ness of  aim.  People  everywhere  who  had  admired  the  giver 
\vere  made  to  prize  as  never  before  the  value  of  early  training, 
when  they  learned  that  an  unpretentious  Methodist  minister 
was  his  father,  after  whom  he  named  a  hospital  that  shall  for 
ages  attest  the  son's  devotion  to  the  memory  of  one  who  led 
him  when  a  youth  into  the  paths  of  promise,  and  of  devotion 
also  to  the  needs  of  humanity  for  whom  Christ  died. 

Seth  Low  is  the  product  of  home  training  as  well  as  of  the 
money  of  A.  A.  Low.  Wm.  H.  Vanderbilt,  with  his  culture 
and  large  nature,  has  carried  into  a  nobler  and  higher  realm  the 
name  and  fame  of  his  father  Cornelius,  and  is  doing  a  still 
grander  work  in  building  up  boys  not  only  to  be  millionaires 
capable  of  managing  great  affairs,  but  in  seeing  to  it  that  they 
are  fitted  to  welcome  great  trusts  and  become  pillars  on  which 
society  builds  its  noblest  superstructures.  Time  and  space 
alike  forbid  our  dwelling  longer  upon  what  investments  in 
youth  are  to  humanity  and  to  Christianity.  Had  Sam  Hobart, 
with  his  might,  with  his  genius  for  being  good  and  doing  good, 
been  blessed  with  early  advantages  similar  to  those  placed 
within  the  reach  of  many  who  secure  them,  and,  thank  God, 
of  many  who  welcome  them,  it  is  impossible  to  describe  what 
might  have  come  from  it. 

Wm.  E.  Dodge  has  just  gone  home  to  God,  rich  in  fame  and 


26  SAM   HOBART. 

in  good  works.  Forget  it  not :  the  tree  was  cared  for  from 
the  start.  He  gave  his  heart  to  Christ  when  a  boy  of  eleven. 
He  grew  up  with  Christ  and  in  Christ,  and  blessings  came  to 
him  because  he  knew  how  wisely  to  use  them,  and  like  a  foun- 
tain on  a  mountain  that  sends  forth  streams  on  every  side,  he 
blessed  humanities  everywhere,  and  was  God's  benefaction  to 
all  men.  Sam  Hobart,  deprived  of  such  watch — care  and  cult- 
ure, had  to  get  on  as  best  he  could.  He  had  love  as  good  and 
as  strong  as  the  richest  and  the  best.  In  the  homes  of  the  poor 
are  compensations  which  outweigh  in  value  all  that  wealth  can 
bring.  There  are  no  poorer  children  than  some  of  the  children 
of  our  wealthiest  people.  Business,  fashion,  and  the  responsi- 
bilities of  life  cause  them  to  commit  the  care  of  children  to 
servants  while  they  give  themselves  up  to  society.  The  mother 
of  wealth  who,  on  one  occasion  being  compelled  to  put  her 
child  to  bed,  learned  by  the  language  and  conduct  of  the  child 
that  he  was  being  exposed  to  terrible  temptation,  and  clasping 
him  to  her  heart  resolved  that  henceforth  society  should  bo 
poorer  that  the  child  might  be  enriched  with  love,  with  care, 
with  kindness,  became  wise  none  too  soon  for  her  own  good 
and  the  happiness  and  prosperity  of  her  child.  The  children 
of  the  poor  at  least  can  have  their  mother's  society,  and  if  their 
mothers  be  cultured,  ambitious,  and  withal  Christian,  they  are 
rich  indeed.  It  is  not  money,  nor  libraries,  nor  horses,  nor 
great  opportunities  that  make  great  men  and  women.  It  must 
be  in  the  child,  if  greatness  ever  distinguishes  him. 

Abraham  Lincoln  delighted  to  dwell  upon  his  obligations  to 
that  stepmother  who  helped  him  to  books,  to  schooling,  to 
society,  for  which  his  soul  longed  while  living  in  the  log-cabin 
with  a  father  who  thought  little  of  the  boy's  great  need  ;  while 
as  long  as  there  is  a  place  in  the  world's  history  for  what  is 
noblest  and  best  in  our  life  the  memory  of  the  mothers  of 
Washington  and  of  Garfield  will  remain  as  illustrations  of  the 
way  in  which  there  has  passed  into  the  highest  place  of  renown, 
that  which  glorifies  the  family  and  the  school-house  of  America. 
Some  of  the  noblest  young  men  in  our  colleges  come  from  some 


SAM    AS    A    BOY.  27 

of  the  poorest  of  our  homes,  and  are  sons  of  mothers  who  kept 
their  boys  with  them,  breathed  into  their  ears  the  story  of  their 
'  ambitious  dreamings  until  they  resolved  to  climb  the  steeps  of 
success.  All  this  Sam  had.  His  mother  was  an  unambitious, 
strong-minded  New  England  woman,  and  her  boys  fill  honor- 
able places,  because  of  the  mainspring  of  purpose  that  came 
from  her  resistless  will.  In  her  society  he  learned  to  scorn 
meanness  and  to  hate  servility*  Would  that  she  had  led  him 
to  Christ  !  Then  might  he  have  carried  into  the  places  of 
honor  and  trust  the  influences  acquired  at  the  hearthstone,  to 
be  practised  round  the  world. 


CHAPTER   III. 

THE    MACHINIST    AND    FIREMAN. 

FROM  the  stock-yard  and  cattle-pen  Sam  passed  to  the  ma- 
chine-shop. His  ambition  was  to  become  a  locomotive  engi- 
neer. To  reach  that  position  preparation  was  a  necessity.  He 
carried  into  the  shop  a  tough  and  wiry  frame,  a  good  eye,  a 
hand  that  only  needed  training  to  find  skill.  In  a  short  time 
he  made  himself  friends  and  a  name.  With  open  eye  and  with 
attentive  brain  he  took  in  all  that  passed  before  him. 

The  fireman  was  the  engineer  in  embryo.  In  that  responsi- 
ble place  his  mettle  was  tested  and  his  skill  was  developed. 
There  are  firemen  who  work  by  the  day  or  month  as  firemen. 
Sam  was  never  among  them.  From  the  day  he  crossed  the 
threshold  of  the  machine-shop,  indeed  from  the  day  he  first 
saw  the  locomotive  careering  over  the  highway  prepared  for 
the  fiery  steed,  he  determined  to  ride  it,  to  master  it,  and  to 
be  identified  with  it.  He  wanted  to  be  an  engineer,  a  locomo- 
tive engineer,  and  that  satisfied  him.  Can  we  believe  in  such 
a  nature  ?  There  are  millions  such,  or  society  would  be  a 
wreck.  There  are  men  who  desire  to  drive  horses,  and  care 
not  to  own  them.  These  men  win  fame  as  drivers.  They 
have  a  place  in  the  world  which  they  like,  and  which  other 
men  covet,  because  they  can  drive.  Their  ambition  is  to  drive 
a  horse  on  the  race.  They  care  for  nothing  else.  They 
exercise  the  horses,  live  with  them  and  for  them,  that  on  the 
course,  in  the  eye  of  thousands,  amid  cheers  and  wild  huzzahs 
they  might  first  cross  the  line  and  be  crowned  as  victors.  A 
locomotive  to  a  man  that  loves  it  is  like  a  fleet  courser.  Now, 
horses  are  not  all  alike.  Every  one  is  peculiar  to  himself.  He 
has  his  moods,  his  way  of  working,  his  spirit,  his  gait,  the 


THE   MACHINIST   AND   FIREMAN.  29 

moment  when  he  will  stretch  himself  to  his  utmost  capacity, 
and  when  all  the  go  in  him  comes  out  of  him. 

Men  that  own  horses  delight  in  them.  Owners  love  their 
horses  as  though  they  were  human.  They  call  them  pet 
names.  They  like  to  drive  them  occasionally,  and  feel  the 
tingle  in  the  hands  which  comes  from  the  mouth  of  the  steed 
to  the  hand  of  the  master.  But  there  is  a  man  nearer  to  the 
horse  than  his  owner,  and  that  is  his  driver.  The  horse  and 
man  are  almost  one  and  inseparable. 

Enough  has  been  said  to  reveal  the  idiosyncrasy  of  this  man 
of  the  locomotive.  That  matchless  piece  of  mechanism  was  to 
Sam  Hobart  a  poem,  meat  and  drink.  He  studied  it.  He  un- 
derstood it  through  and  through,  from  boiler  to  throttle- valve. 

Every  locomotive  has  its  peculiar  nature.  There  are  some 
locomotives  that  always  want  to  run  away.  There  are  others 
that  always  seem  to  be  getting  ready  to  stop.  There  are  times 
when  a  locomotive  will  do  marvellously  well,  and  there  are 
other  times  when  it  does  marvellously  ill.  Then  the  fireman  is 
alert.  He  puts  oil  here  and  there,  tightens  a  nut  or  loosens  it, 
puts  coal  in,  or  what  it  requires,  and  at  last  the  thing  is  all 
aflame  with  energy.  As  fireman  Sam  was  a  success.  He  was 
lithe  of  limb,  quick  of  eye,  and  ready  of  hand.  He  could  be 
all  over  a  locomotive  when  at  its  utmost  speed. 

From  the  first  he  worked  for  his  engineer,  and  his  engineer  in 
a  short  time  began  to  work  for  him.  Gently  he  backed  out  the 
machine.  The  puffs  of  steam  were  given  as  intimations  rather 
than  as  threats.  From  the  machine-shop  to  the  position  of 
fireman  seemed  to  him  like  promotion.  It  was  a  step  on.  He 
delighted  to  see  his  locomotive  in  perfect  condition.  A  fire- 
man's position  is  peculiarly  responsible.  On  our  best  roads  he 
does  not  clean  the  engine.  Wipers  do  that.  But  he  sees  to 
it,  and  superintends  it.  He  mounts  the  engine  when  fired  up, 
and  takes  it  from  the  round-house  to  the  track.  He  waits  for 
the  signal.  Then  the  engineer  steps  on  board  and  takes,  as  we 
might  say,  the  reins.  As  fireman  Sam  gave  his  engineer  a 
cordial  greeting,  and  ministered  to  him  without  waiting  for 


30  SAM    HOBA.RT. 

suggestion,  direction,  or  command.  Superintendent,  president, 
and  directors,  or  whoever  saw  his  engine  saw  that  labor  had 
been  bestowed  upon  it.  Its  brasses  shone  with  golden  lustre, 
its  iron  rods  and  bars  and  cranks  and  pistons  glistened  with 
silvery  sheen,  and  its  heavier  parts  and  body  were  made  as 
beautiful  and  bright  and  fresh-looking  as  possible.  Before  he 
took  the  machine  out,  every  screw  and  nut  and  lever  and 
joint  were  examined  and  oiled.  We  can  imagine  Ginery 
Tvvitchel,  whose  eye  never  omitted  any  detail,  saying  to  the 
engineer,  u  Your  locomotive  looks  well  this  morning/'  "  Yes. 
It  is  Sam's  pride.  He  keeps  it  in  apple-pie  order.77  Thus  the 
ambitious  fireman  was  rewarded.  This  faithfulness  and  service 
opened  the  path  to  promotion.  The  engineer  took  pains  with 
him,  and  helped  him  on.  Sam  soon  came  to  know  how  to 
handle  the  monster  with  safety  and  skill.  The  locomotive  was 
his  passion,  whether  at  rest  or  fired  up  and  quivering  with  the 
tremendous  energy,  which  if  unbound  would  wreck  whatever 
was  near,  and  under  control  was  the  servant  of  man.  It  was 
the  embodiment  and  personification  of  power  while  fiying  on 
its  iron  way,  or  while  standing  at  the  station  snorting  like  a 
war-horse,  as  if  smelling  the  battle  from  afar.  A  fireman's 
position  requires  nerve,  a  clear  head,  a  quick  brain,  coolness  in 
the  midst  of  peril,  a  steady  hand  when  dangers  have  to  be  met 
Now  he  is  throwing  wood  or  coal  into  the  furnace,  which 
devours  material  with  fierce  rapacity  ;  then  he  is  compelled  to 
walk  out  on  the  side  of  the  heated  bounding  force  to  give  a 
little  oil  where  the  friction  is  great  ;  then  back  he  flies  to  his 
place  to  ring  the  bell  while  crossing  a  highway  or  dashing 
through  a  town. 

Enter  the  round-house  where  the  locomotives  are  kept,  and 
there  is  much  to  interest.  In  it  are  these  tremendous  engines, 
with  that  in  them  which  if  neglected  might  wreck  the  building 
and  the  engines,  of  which  there  are  usually  a  multitude.  Sam 
has  just  come  in  from  the  road,  where  with  lightning  speed 
they  have  men  fulfilling  their  mission  and  are  now  disgorging 
their  fire  and  water  and  preparing  to  rest  ;  some  are  letting  off 


THE   MACHINIST  A3STD   FIREMAN.  31 

steam  with  a  fiendish  yell  unbearably  prolonged  ;  some  are  in 
the  hands  of  the  wipers,  the  firemen  superintending  and  per- 
haps attending  to  some  needed  minutia  ;  others  are  undergoing 
the  necessary  repairs,  and  a  few  are  ready  for  instant  action. 

Among  these  helpers  Sam  was  a  hale  fellow  well  met.  He 
was  quick  to  learn  because  ready  to  take  a  suggestion,  and 
thorough  in  the  performance  of  the  duties  enjoined  upon  him. 
His  engineer  could  repose  implicit  confidence  in  his  discretion, 
fidelity,  and  trustworthiness,  and  so  took  pride  in  him.  From 
his  boyhood  up  "  he  studied  to  be  quiet,  to  do  his  own  busi- 
ness, and  to  work  with  his  own  hands,"  as  the  apostle  com- 
mands. He  believed  there  was  a  place  for  him,  work  for  him 
to  do,  and  that  he  had  a  mission  to  fulfil.  What  was  true  of 
him  he  felt  to  be  true  of  every  other  man.  In  his  estimation 
the  dignity  of  labor  finds  its  exponent  in  the  fact  that  every 
trade,  profession,  art,  and  employment  is  an  essential  link  in  the 
chain  that  binds  society  together.  He  felt  that  it  was  a  mis- 
taken notion  that  forever,  associates  labor  with  a  curse.  He 
was  not  miserable,  because  he  had  something  to  do.  He  had 
only  contempt  for  loafers,  and  wasted  no  pity  upon  those  who 
were  ever  harping  upon  the  miseries  of  the  workingman.  He 
denied  that  there  were  menial  employments,  in  the  sense  in 
which  the  term  is  used.  We  all  serve.  Menial  pertains  to 
service.  The  employer  serves  his  servant  as  much  as  the  ser- 
vant serves  the  employer.  Christ  illustrated  this  truth  when 
he  washed  his  disciples'  feet  and  said,  "  Let  him  that  is 
chief  be  as  he  that  doth  serve."  This  was  the  secret  of  the 
success  of  young  Hobart. 

As  a  fireman  he  was  faithful  and  trustworthy.  He  made  his 
engine  his  pride.  He  was  prompt,  respectful,  and  obliging. 
He  filled  his  place,  and  sought  to  fill  no  one  else's  place.  He 
did  not  seek  to  be  superintendent  or  president,  but  simply  fire- 
man, and  desired  to  learn  all  that  could  be  known  about  the 
management  of  the  engine.  He  never  saw  an  open  door  that 
he  did  not  enter  it.  His  engineer  reported  him  to  the  superin- 
tendent as  fitted  for  an  engine,  while  Sam  was  bus}r  with  his 


32  SAM   HOBART. 

work  and  not  dreaming  of  promotion.     He  went  higher  because 
the  place  called  for  him.     He  did  not  cry  for  the  place.     There 
was  not  a  lazy  hair  in  his  head,  nor  a  lazy  bone  in  his  body. 
In  his  estimation,  the  most  miserable  men  on  earth  are  those 
who  have  nothing  to  do.     They  are  in  the  way  when  they  seek 
society,  for  society  has  bread  to  earn  and  duties  to  discharge. 
At  home  they  are  miserable.     Idleness  is  the  sepulchre  of  a 
living  man.     Every  individual  is  so  constituted  that  if  he  will 
not  work  he  shall  hasten  to  destruction.     It  is  the  grain  be- 
tween the  upper  and  nether  millstones  which  saves  the  machin- 
ery from  ruin.     So  it  is  the  work  placed  before  us  that  keeps 
the  machinery  of  life  in  running  order  and  makes  men  happy. 
"  Look/'  said  Sam  to  a  comrade  when  a  fireman,'44  at  the 
laborer  confined  to  his  house.     He  has  bread  and  sources  of 
comfort,  but  he  pines  for  occupation.     4  The  sleep  of  a  labor- 
ing man  is  sweet. '  '       Sam  had  no  sympathy  with  one  who  was 
wishing  he  had  nothing  to  do,  that  he   had  money  enough  to 
live  without  work.      He  said,  "  You  are  mistaken.     Imagine 
yourself  inheriting  money  on  the  condition  that  from  this  time 
you  ceased  laboring.     Hitherto  you  have  been  engaged  in  a 
machine-shop.     Your  companions  and  friends  are  there.     But 
you  can  no  more  be  permitted  to  touch  or  use  a  tool.     You  try 
staying  at  home.     Your  mother  complains  that  you  are  in  the 
way.     They  wish  to  clean  up  the  house,  and  want  you  out  of 
it.     You  saunter  forth  and  enter  a  store  ;  the  merchant  is  busy. 
He  will  wait  on  you,  but  cannot  afford  to  have  you  lounging 
around.     You  go  back  to  the  shop.     Your  companions  have 
no  time  to  waste  upon  an  idler,  and  no  respect  for  a  drone  in 
the  great  human  hive.     You  try  reading,  and  are  not  used  to  it. 
Your  bones  ache,  your  head  feels  uncomfortable.     The  world 
is  busy,  and  you  are  unemployed.     There  is  one  of  two  things 
that  would  occur  in  one  month's  time.     You  would  rush  into  . 
dissipation  to  drown  your  bodily  suffering,  or  you  would  put 
your  inheritance  to  use  and  go  to  work."     Sam  was  right. 
Food  received  in  the  body  requires  exercise  to  aid  the  digestive 
organs.     It  is  equally  true  of  mental  food.     There  is  no  place 
in  this  wide  world  for  an  idle  man.     He  is  refuse,  and  the 


THE    MACHINIST    AND    FIREMAN.  33 

sooner  he  finds  it  out  the  belter,  when  the  money  he  keeps 
from  circulating  will  find  its  way  into  the  channels  of  useful- 
ness. The  man  who  does  not  labor,  for  its  own  sake  and  the 
blessings  that  follow  in  its  train,  is  diseased  either  in  body  or 
soul.  Dissipation  may  destroy  the  constitution  and  rob  the 
body  of  its  strength  and  energy,  and  for  a  time  the  system 
may  need  repose  ;  but  as  soon  as  it  regains  health  it  will  de- 
mand occupation.  The  bees  understand  it  :  they  kill  off  the 
drones. 

4<  No,"  said  the  friend,  "  that  theory  must  be  given  up." 
"  Well,"  said  Sam,  "  I  don't  believe  it.  If  the  bees  don't  do 
it,  then  all  I  have  to  say  is,  I  shan't  think  so  much  of  the  bees. 
'  For  he  that  will  not  work,  neither  shall  he  eat. '  ' 

Another  mistaken  notion  which  Sam  was  fond  of  fighting 
was  that  men  are  unhappy  because  of  their  peculiar  occupation. 
He  declared  that  his  acquaintance  with  men  forced  upon  him 
the  conviction,  that  with  rare  exceptions,  every  man  is  doing 
that  which  under  all  the  circumstances  he  is  best  adapted  to  do, 
and  that  he  would  not  be  as  happy  anywhere  else  as  where  he 
is.  He  knew  there  were  places  he  could  not  fill.  He  was  very 
proud  of  Hon.  Ginery  Twitchel,  who  passed  from  a  stage- 
driver  up  the  grade  to  being  railroad  president,  and  then  grad- 
uated and  went  to  Congress.  He  was  familiar  with  the  history 
of  Tom  Scott,  the  railroad  king  of  the  Pennsylvania  Central,  or 
of  Cornelius  Vanderbilt,  both  of  whom  climbed  up  from  the 
humblest  of  beginnings  to  their  distinguished  positions  ;  but 
Sam  Hobart  knew  that  he  was  plain  Sam  Hobart,  and  that  he 
could  not  do  their  work.  So  when  a  boy  he  sought  to  fill  his 
place,  and  filled  it  to  the  satisfaction  of  all  parties.  He  believed 
that  in  his  humble  sphere  God  gave  to  him  just  as  many  sources 
of  innocent  happiness  as  he  had  given  to  anybody.  Happiness 
ris  within,  and  not  without.  The  discontented  imagine  that 
happiness  must  be  found  in  a  change  of  position  or  of  occupa- 
tion rather  than  in  a  change  of  opinion.  There  is  no  good 
reason  why  the  coachman  should  not  be  as  happy  as  the  dainty 
lady  whom  he  serves.  There  is  no  reason  why  the  hod-carrier 
may  not  be  as  happy  at  his  toil  as  is  the  mason  whom  he  waits 


34  SAM     1IOBAKT. 

upon,  or  the  architect  in  accordance  with  whose  plan  he  helps 
to  build.  It  was  Sam  Hobart's  feeling  that  the  duties  and 
responsibilities  of  the  president  of  the  railroad  would  be  too 
much  for  him.  Would  that  his  faith  was  more  widely  diffused. 
Society  would  hear  less  of  complaint.  There  would  be  fewer 
grumblers  and  less  tumult.  Now,  alas,  in  many  instances  a 
mechanic  acquires  wealth.  His  son  inherits  his  traits  of  char- 
acter and  habits  of  mind.  But  the  father  scorns  the  idea  of 
bringing  the  boy  up  to  business.  He  must  make  a  gentleman 
of  him.  God  makes  the  gentleman.  Man  oftentimes  makes 
of  a  good  youth,  by  false  training,  a  spendthrift,  and  mayhap 
a  prodigal  and  a  drunkard.  The  ocean  of  the  mercantile  world 
is  strewn  with  the  wrecks  of  young  men  who  ruined  their 
hopes  because  their  parents-  had  heaped  up  fortunes  for  them. 
Happy  had  it  been  for  them  had  they  been  constrained  to  toil 
as  their  fathers  toiled  before  them,  and  to  make  their  fortune 
that  they  might  enjoy  it.  Providence  rights  the  wrongs  of  the 
workingman  by  building  up  those  who  toil  and  by  casting 
idlers  down.  It  is  known  that  the  sons  of  wealth  who  with 
competences  have  inherited  sloth  come  to  want,  as  a  rule,  in  the 
course  of  three  generations,  while  "  the  thoughts  of  the  dili- 
gent tend  only  to  plenteousness. "  From  them  come  the  inven- 
tions which  lighten  labor  and  hasten  on  the  chariot  of  plenty. 
From  them  come  those  vast  schemes  which  have  belted  society 
with  the  bands  of  prosperity  and  girded  society  for  its  benefi- 
cent tasks.  Said  the  great  Alexander  :  "  It  is  a  slavish  thing 
to  luxuriate,  but  a  most  royal  thing  to  labor.  The  man  that 
luxuriates  is  the  man  who  is  a  slave.  The  man  who  labors  is  in 
truth  the  king,  for  he  alone  is  king  of  himself,  while  the  king 
who  is  not  king  of  himself  is  but  a  royal  slave.  The  entire 
truth  is  summed  up  by  the  wise  man  :  "  Seest  thou  a  man  dili- 
gent in  his  business  :  he  shall  stand  before  kings,  he  shall  not 
stand  before  mean  persons.'7  That  is,  diligence  shall  cause 
him  to  be  a  necessity  to  society.  The  world  stands  in  need  of 
the  product  of  honest  toil,  and  the  vineyard  waits  for  laborers. 
So  there  was  a  place  for  Sam  Hobart. 


CHAPTER   IV. 

SAM    BECOMES    A    LOCOMOTIVE    ENGINEER. 

SAM  is  twenty  years  of  age,  and  is  promoted  from  being  fire- 
man to  being  put  in  trust  of  a  locomotive.  It  was  1848.  Rail- 
roading was  then  in  its  infancy  in  the  West.  The  East  was  edu- 
cating the  West.  The  men  of  the  East  were  sought  to  fill  places 
of  trust  in  the  West.  Sam's  eyes  soon  saw  the  laying  of  the 
first  track  on  the  road  that  was  in  due  time  to  bind  Boston  and 
San  Francisco  together  with  bonds  of  iron.  Then  it  was  pro- 
nounced visionary  to  attempt  to  climb  the  Berkshire  hills,  and 
when  achieved  and  the  road  was  completed  it  was  regarded  as 
great  an  exploit  as  to  build  the  Pacific  Road  and  climb  and 
scale  the  Rocky  Mountains.  A  boy  of  twenty  in  charge  of  a 
locomotive  was  a  novelty.  Jealousies  were  kindled  into  flame 
by  it,  and  men  of  age  were  not  happy  at  the  progress  made  by 
the  youngster.  Sam  was  compelled  to  conquer  his  place,  and 
to  hold  it  by  reason  that  he  was  equal  to  the  position.  He  did 
not  step  to  the  first  place  at  once.  He  crept  up.  He  walked 
in  due  time  ;  he  was  content.  He  knew  that  "  A  rolling  stone 
gathers  no  moss,"  and  a  man  who  often  changes  his  business 
is  most  likely  to  remain  poor.  Said  the  sagacious  Richard  : 

"  I  never  saw  an  oft-removed  tree, 
Nor  yet  an  oft-removed  family, 
That  throve  so  well  as  those  that  settled  be." 

It  is  not  because  of  any  property  he  acquired  by  remaining 
in  one  place  and  contenting  himself  with  one  kind  of  employ- 
ment, but  because  of  the  influence  he  acquired  by  maintaining 
a  good  character  through  all  these  years,  that  he  deserves  men- 
tion. 


36  SAM    HOBART. 

At  the  commencement  he  was  put  in  charge  of  a  locomotive 
as  a  guard,  then  on  a  freight,  and  soon  on  a  passenger  train  ; 
and  so  he  went  on  until  at  last  by  common  consent  the  best 
place  was  assigned  him.  It  was  said  of  him  that  his  train  was 
sure  to  pull  through.  In  the  midst  of  terrific  storms,  when 
deep  snows  impeded  their  progress  or  blocked  their  path,  and  it 
was  known  that  Sam  was  with  the  train,  people  said  :  "She 
will  come  through  if  it's  among  the  possibilities."  Men  were 
accustomed  to  speak  of  the  fertility  of  his  inventive  genius,  his 
powers  of  endurance,  his  good-nature  and  indomitable  pluck. 

He  believed  in  success.  There  is  sense  in  the  saying,  "  Keep 
thy  shop  and  thy  shop  will  keep  thee."  He  stuck  to  the  one 
business  ;  he  meddled  with  nothing  else.  He  was  master  of 
every  department.  He  knew  how  to  calculate  for  frost  and 
heat,  for  rain  and  snow,  for  the  spring  of  the  road  and  for  the 
lack  of  it.  He  knew  little  of  what  the  books  said  of  it,  but 
everything  which  experience  and  observation  could  teach.  As 
a  result,  he  knew  that  he  knew  what  to  do  and  how  to  do  it. 

' '  Perseverance  is  a  Roman  virtue 
That  wins  each  godlike  act  and  plucks  success, 
Even  from  the  spear-proof  crest  of  rugged  danger. " 

As  a  manager  of  the  locomotive  he  was  an  expert,  and  for 
many  years  he  had  the  latest  improvements  submitted  to  his 
inspection  and  committed  to  his  charge.  He  loved  a  good 
engine  as  other  men  love  a  horse,  or  a  dog,  or  a  gun.  It  was 
his  joy  to  be  with  it.  He  liked  the  regularity  with  which  it 
ran  to  and  back  from  Worcester  to  Boston  like  the  beat  of  a 
pendulum  swinging  through  its  iron  arc.  He  loved  the  excite- 
ment of  seeing  the  train  loaded  up,  the  hurrying  of  passengers, 
the  rolling  of  the  baggage,  the  start,  and  best  of  all,  the  race. 
He  delighted  in  the  bound  and  speed  of  the  fiery  steed.  He 
would  touch  the  levers  as  delicately  and  with  as  much  grace  as 
a  good  reinsman  would  handle  the  lines.  The  sound  of  the 
whistle,  the  clip-clap  of  the  wheels  rattling  on  the  iron  track 
had  a  music  for  him  more  enlivening  and  bewitching  than  ever 


SAM    BECOMES   A    LOCOMOTIVE   EXGIHEER.  37 

accompanied  the  organ's  peal.  It  is  not  strange,  for  a  wonder- 
fill  thing  is  that  engine,  the  emblem  and  exponent  of  the  hour, 
"  the  thing  of  iron  and  of  fire,  with  a  banner  of  light,  an  eye 
like  a  star  ;  with  sinews  of  brass  and  steel,  and  breathings  of 
flame."  See  it  standing  on  the  track,  pipe  puffing,  steam  fret- 
,  ting  to  be  free,  reminding  one  of  the  horse  described  in  Job, 
whose  neck  is  clothed  with  thunder,  which  paweth  in  the  valley 
and  rejoiceth  in  his  strength.  He  saith  among  the  trumpets, 
Ha,  ha  !  and  he  smelleth  'the  battle  afar  off,  the  thunder  of 
the  captains  and  the  shouting,  and  is  impatient  to  go  forth  to 
battle.  "  It  glides  upon  those  two  iron  bars  from  winter  to 
summer,  from  day  to  night,  from  morning  to  evening. "  "  It 
plunges  like  a  strand  of  thunder  through  the  mountain  gorges  ; 
it  Ikaps  across  the  wide  valley.  Its  shaft  glitters  in  the  mines  ; 
its  voice  is  heard  in  the  shop  ;  its  banner  is  everywhere.  It  has 
forced  its  way  to  the  far  hamlets  in  the  quiet  vales,  and  they 
have  felt  the  thrill  and  the  jar  of  the  great  world."  It  is  won- 
derful how  that  hissing,  panting  thing  of  iron  has  revolution- 
ized the  world.  Benjamin  F.  Taylor  has  in  his  wonderful  way 
written  of  the  engine,  and  asked,  "  Did  you  ever  creep  gingerly 
— should  there  be  another  '  ly  '  to  the  gingerly  ? — up  to  the 
deck  of  a  railway  car  when  the  train  was  moving,  say  twenty- 
five  or  thirty  miles  an  hour  ?  And  did  you  look  way  on  be- 
yond the  train,  where  the  two  iron  bars — that  noblest  couplet 
in  the  great  epic  of  the  time — were  welded  lovingly  together, 
without  hammer  or  furnace  or  pin,  but  just  beneath  the  won- 
derful, invisible  fingers  of  distance,  till  they  lay  there  a  huge  V 
upon  the  bosom  of  the  prairie  ?  And  how  marvellously,  as  the 
train  moved  on,  those  stubborn  "bars  swayed  round  to  a  parallel, 
as  lightly  and  noiselessly  as  a  brace  of  sunbeams,  flung  from  a 
mirror  swinging  in  the  wanton  wind,  sweep  round  *in  the  blue 
air  !  And  did  you  '  mind,7  not  a  spike  wrenched  from  its 
good  hold,  not  a  tie  ?mtied,  not  a  timber  splintered  !  There 
must  be  a  charm  in  those  fingers  indeed." 

No  one  that  ever  rode  upon  the  engine  can  forget  the  sensa- 
tion of  pleasure,  of  exultation,  of  exuberant  joy  experienced,  as 


38  SAM    HOBART. 

fear  is  forgotten,  and  one  is  given  up  to  the  excitement  incident 
to  the  situation,  when  in  fancy  you  keep  time  with  Saxe  in  his 
Rhyme  on  the  Rail,  as  you  go 

"  Singing  through  the  forests, 

Battling  over  ridges, 
Shooting  under  arches, 

Humbling  over  bridges, 
Whizzing  through  the  mountains, 

Buzzing  o'er  the  vale, 
Bless  me  !  this  is  pleasant, 

Biding  on  the  Bail." 

At  times  you  feel  like  shouting,  '  i  Stop  the  train  !  Let  us 
off  !  Conductor,  captain,  somebody,  anybody,  there's  a  vil- 
lage on  the  track.  The  meeting-house,  the  grave-yard,  fed- 
faced  stores,  presto,  you  are  there,  they  recede,  and  you  pass 
on.  Every  one  has  looked  up.  The  very  ground  has  shaken 
beneath  giant  structures,  and  you,  the  freest,  the  wildest,  the 
most  impetuous  creature  that  ever  moved  through  space,  are 
identified  with  this  marvellous  product  of  skill.  Look  again.. 
This  time  there  is  surely  something  on  the  track  again.  It's  a 
fly,  it's  a  frog,  it's  a  child,  it's  a  man  six  feet  high — a  D.D., 
a  P.M.,  an  M.C.  On  we  go.  We  have  passed  him,  we  have 
left  him.  Five  feet  high  ;  four  feet  high  ;  a  child,  a  frog,  a 
bug,  a  nothing.  The  D.D,  dwindled  down  ;  the  P.M.  is  past 
minding,  and  the  M.C.  is  microscopic  curiosity." 

"  Lo  !  there  *  the  breathing  thought' 

The  poets  sang  of  old, 
And  there  '  the  burning  word  ' 

No  tongue  had  full\T  told, 
Until  the  magic  hand 

The  bold  conception  wrought — 
In  iron  and  in  fire  it  stands — 

The  world's  embodied  thought. 

"  Lo  !  in  the  panting  thunders, 
Hear  the  echo  of  the  Age  ! 
Lo  !  in  the  globe' s  broad  breast,  behold 
The  poet's  noblest  page  ! 


SAM    BECOMES   A    LOCOMOTIVE    ENGINEER.  39 

For  in  the  brace  of  iron  bars, 

That  weld  two  worlds  in  one, 
The  couplet  of  a  nobler  lay 

Than  bards  have  e'r  begun  !" 

The  locomotive  engineer  rides  this  poem,  this  epic,  or  this 
monster — call  it  what  you  will — he  rides  it  as  a  thing  of  life. 
The  signal  comes  to  him,  not  in  a  loud  shout  of  command,  or  a 
trumpet-blast,  but  by  the  silent  hand  of  time  as  indicated  on 
his  chronometer.  But  how,  it  may  be  asked,  does  he  know 
precisely  the  hour  at  which  he  has  to  start,  the  stations  he  has 
to  stop  at,  the  various  little  acts  of  coupling  on  and  dropping 
off  carriages  and  trucks,  and  returning  within  fixed  periods  so 
punctually,  that  he  shall  not  interfere  with,  run  into,  or  delay 
the  operations  of  the  hundreds  of  drivers  ;  whose  duties  are  as 
complete,  wise,  important,  and  swift  as  his  own.  The  reply  is 
framed  in  the  perfection  of  system  attained  in  railroad  manage- 
ment. Without  this  there  would  be  endless  confusion  and  un- 
told and  unnumbered  disasters. 

Sam  recognized  this  fact,  and  made  use  of  it.  The  responsi- 
bility of  making  a  time-table  devolved  upon  another.  The 
obeying  of  it  devolved  upon  him.  He  knew  that  the  difficulty  of 
running  so  many  trains  and  making  them  dovetail  into  one  an- 
other so  that  the  regular  traffic  be  not  interfered  with,  and  that 
excursion,  special,  and  other  irregular  trains  be  provided  for,  re- 
quired a  calculation,  a  skill,  a  comprehension  of  detail,  for  which 
he  had  neither  ability  nor  ambition.  Being  carefully  hedged  in, 
as  we  have  shown,  with  strict  rules  and  regulations,  the  engineer 
knowing  his  duties  well,  and  feeling  perfect  confidence  in  him- 
self and  his  superiors,  looks  at  his  chronometer,  and  at  the 
proper  time  mounts  to  his  place.  The  fireman,  putting  a  finish- 
ing drop  of  oil  into  some  part  of  the  machinery,  takes  his  sta- 
tion beside  his  mate,  eases  off  the  brake,  looks  at  the  fire  and 
waits  upon  the  monster,  as  the  engineer  waits  for  the  signal  to 
start.  The  clock  strikes.  Sam  lets  off  his  shot  whistles  and 
lets  on  the  steam.  The  first  is  a  soft  pulsation,  a  mere  puff  ; 
but  it  was  enough  to  move  the  ponderous  engine  as  if  it  had 


40  SAM    HOBAKT. 

been  the  spirit  of  life.  Another,  and  gently  it  pulls  out  the 
train.  All  are  aboard.  Everything  is  ready.  Another  puff  of 
greater  strength  sends  forward  the  engine  with  -a  sudden  gran- 
deur of  action  that  enables  the  engineer  to  show  off  the  points 
of  the  powerful  steed. 

As  an  engineer,  he  began  first  in  the  yard.  Then  he  took  a 
freight  train.  It  was  seen  that  he  could  move  a  train  and  not 
jerk  it.  He  never  went  too  far  or  stopped  too  soon.  He  was 
expeditious. '  He  was  safe.  He  attended  to  his  business.  At 
length,  an  engineer  being  sick,  he  was  placed  on  a  passenger 
train  for  the  day.  The  skill  acquired  in  the  yard  and  with 
freight  trains  enabled  him  to  move  out  of  the  depot  quickly 
and  stop  at  the  stations  without  a  jar.  That  night  the  con- 
ductor reported  him  as  a  success  for  the  passenger  train. 
"  Why,"  said  he,  "  no  old  engineer  that  I  know  of  can  do  any 
better,  if  as  well.  He  did  not  seem  to  start,  but  to  insinuate  the 
idea  of  motion  to  his  iron  steed,  and  so  glide  softly  away.  As 
a  result  he  was  transferred  to  the  passenger  trains,  and  kept  his 
place  for  evermore.  He  never  forgot  his  obligations  to  the 
men  who  advanced  him,  and  in  this  showed  good  sense. 

America  in  1 848  was  the  El  Dorado  of  the  workingman. 
Here  was  thrift  and  plenty,  while  terrible  convulsions  were 
shaking  the  old  world.  Italy,  France  and  Hungary  were  being 
ploughed  with  excitements  that  gave  birth  to  republics  and 
shook  the  foundations  of  time-honored  despotisms,  papal  and 
other.  In  England  the  working  classes  were  crying  out  for  de- 
liverance. It  was  on  the  10th  of  April,  1848,  the  great  peti- 
tion for  the  charter  became  the  jest  and  sport  of  men.  How 
wild  their  hope,  how  bitter  their  despair.  One  wrote  in  behalf  ' 
of  the  charter  these  words  :  "  Had  not  freedom,  progression, 
expanding,  descending,  been  the  glory  and  the  strength  of 
England  ?  Were  Magna  Charta  and  the  Habeas  Corpus  Act, 
Hampden's  resistance  to  ship-money,  and  the  calm,  righteous 
might  of  1688 — were  they  all  futilities  and  fallacies  ?  Ever 
downward  for  seven  hundred  years,  welling  from  the  heaven- 
watered  mountain  peaks  of  wisdom,  had  spread  the  stream* 


SAM    BECOMES    A    LOCOMOTIVE   ENGINEER.  41 

of  liberty.  The  nobles  had  gained  their  charter  from  John  ; 
the  middle  classes  from  Wiiliam  of  Orange  ;  was  not  the  time 
at  hand,  when  from  a  queen,  more  gentle,  charitable,  upright, 
spotless  than  had  ever  sat  on  the  throne  of  England,  the  work- 
ing masses  in  their  turn  should  gain  their  charter?"  They 
were  to  go  in  a  procession  250,000  strong  to  the  very  doors  of 
the  House  of  Commons,  and  demand  their  rights. 

The  day  came.  All  England  was  aroused.  Thousands  of 
special  constables  were  enrolled.  The  practical  common-sense 
of  the  people  refused  to  side  with  outlaws,  and  to  expose 
themselves  to  French  and  Irish  interference,  and  so  the  masses 
would  not  rise.  Whatever  sympathy  they  had  with  Chartists, 
they  did  not  care  to  show  it.  And  then  futility  after  futility 
exposed  itself.  The  meeting,  which  was  to  have  numbered  its 
hundreds  of  thousands,  did  not  number  its  tens  of  thousands. 
The  broadest  and  the  wisest  saw  that  all  was  up,  and  cried,  We 
are  all  "  humbugged  and  betrayed,"  and  the  meeting  broke 
up  pitiably,  piecemeal,  drenched  and  cowed,  body  and  soul,  by 
pouring  rain  on  its  way  home — for  the  very  heavens  mercifully 
helped  to  quench  the  folly — while  the  monster  petition  crawled 
ludicrously  away  in  a  hack-cab  to  be  dragged  to  the  floor  of  the 
House  of  Commons  amid  roars  of  laughter — "  inextinguishable 
laughter. ' ' 

Thus  wrote  Charles  Kingsley  in  '*  Alton  Locke,"  of  a  move- 
ment engaging  the  world's  thought  when  Sam  Hobart  at  the  age' 
of  twenty,  became  a  locomotive  engineer.  Boston  is  the  work- 
ingman's  paradise.  Here  every  improvement  is  welcomed.  The 
inventive  spirit  is  encouraged.  The  man  of  the  forge  or  of  the 
loom,  of  the  spindle,  of  the  shoe-shop,  and  of  the  carpenter's 
bench,  comes  into  association  with  the  noblest,  the  most  enter- 
prising of  the  land.  Sam  felt  it  and  gloried  in  it.  He  was  an 
American  out  and  out.  He  saw  the  possibilities  within  reach, 
and  the  open  doors  to  usefulness  and  power  inviting  attention 
at  every  turn.  Some  one  has  said  :  "  Everybody  has  his  ani- 
mal period,  when  he  can  only  eat  and  sleep  ;  intelligence  slowly 
dawning  on  his  mind.  Then  comes  his  savage  period,  when  he 


42  SAM    HOB  ART. 

knows  nothing  of  rights,  when  all  thine  is  mine,  if  he  can  get 
it.  Then  comes  the  barbarous  period,  when  he  is  ignorant  and 
dislikes  to  learn  ;  study  and  restraint  are  irksome.  Nothing  is 
sacred  to  him — no  time,  nor  place,  nor  person.  He  grows  up 
wild  and  reckless/7  Through  these  periods,  companions  say, 
Sam  passed.  Some  called  him  a  "  boy,"  claiming  that  he  got 
more  than  his  share,  as  they  thought,  and  was  selfish,  grasping, 
and  unfeeling.  Well,  if  that  was  true  of  him  at  any  time  he 
soon  passed  beyond  this  stage.  The  pushing  boy  that  would 
not  be  sat  down  on — that  as  apprentice,  as  fireman  and  as 
engineer,  did  his  best — soon  attracted  notice.  Discouragement 
had  never  entered  his  soul.  He  knew  what  it  was  to  be  an 
apprentice,  and  he  misjudged.  He  knew  also  what  love,  confi- 
dence and  respect  from  those  set  over  him  was.  He  never  for- 
got it.  The  story  is  told  of  John  -Morrissey  and  Tom  Hyer. 
Both  were  fighting  men.  Friends  were  anxious  that  they 
should  have  "  a  mill,"  or  prize  fight.  Tom  Hyer  never  came 
to  time  in  any  way  pleasing  to  Morrissey.  One  day  they  were 
on  a  steamer  sailing  up  the  Hudson,  and  John  said  to  Tom, 
"  Do  you  know  why  you  and  I  have  never  fought  ?"  "  No." 
"  Well,  I  do."  "  Why  ?"  "  Because  there  are  just  two  men 
in  this  world,"  said  Morrissey,  "  who  know  that  I  can  whip  you 
— one  is  you  and  t'other  one  is  me."  He  believed  that  he  was 
equal  to  the  situation. 

Some  declare  that  when  his  work  was  done  he  went  the 
rounds  with  wild  and  rude  associates — visiting  theatres,  brothels, 
dance-houses,  and  the  like.  Nothing  could  be  further  from 
the  truth.  Such  men  never  climb  the  steep  ascent  to  positions 
of  trust.  They  go  down  and  they  end  in  disgrace.  Their 
wrecks  line  the  shore  of  life's  sea.  It  is  easy  to  go  down. 
The  broad  road  is  an  inclined  plane.  The  descent  is  easy  and 
natural.  The  current  in  Niagara  River  is  not  more  certain 
making  toward  the  cataract  and  the  headlong  plunge  to  utter 
ruin  than  is  the  path  of  the  young  mechanic  that  squanders  his 
evenings  and  wastes  his  opportunities. 

Sam  became  a  Freemason  when  young.      He  was  welcomed 


SAM   BECOMES   A   LOCOMOTIVE   ENGINEER.  43 

to  the  association  by  men  who  appreciated  his  worth.  The 
symbols,  the  humanities,  the  fraternity,  the  stand-up-to-a- tire- 
ness  of  the  order  delighted  him.  He  travelled  through  the 
West  as  an  engineer.  To  the  shops,  to  the  depots  of  the  great 
railways  he  went  no  more  certainly  than  he  visited  the  lodges  of 
the  fraternity.  In  this  order  he  learned  the  value  of  brother- 
hood and  how  to  minister  to  the  distressed  and  afflicted.  For 
years  this  was  his  religion. ,  He  fought  his  way  through  diffi- 
culties made  strong  by  the  fact  that  the  eye  of  a  great  order 
was  on  him,  and  that  within  the  lodge- room  he  had  bosom 
friends.  His  reverence  for  his  mother  and  for  himself  made 
him  respect  women.  Lectures  he  loved  on  scientific  subjects. 
As  the  years  went  on,  Boston  became  the  battle-ground  of 
liberty.  Faneuil  Hall  and  Tremont  Temple,  the  Meronian, 
where  Parker  preached  and  where  Channing  and  Culver  and 
Gilbert  and  others  met  to  compare  notes  and  plan  for  the  pro- 
tection of  the  weak,  were  favorite  resorts  for  the  young  and 
aspiring  engineer.  All  this  time  he  was  the  champion  of  the 
work  that  had  fallen  to  him  to  do.  He  believed  in,  the  man- 
agement and  in  the  road  he  served.  When  other  men  would 
find  fault  with  the  company,  with  the  road,  with  the  equip- 
ments, Sam  would  stand  by  them  and  defend  them.  He  knew 
enough  to  praise  what  he  had  and  make  the  most  of  it.  That 
fact  became  known.  When  his  brother  engineers  would  de- 
clare that  on  such  and  such  roads  men  were  treated  better  or 
paid  more  wages  or  had  less  hours,  Sam  would  reply,  "  Boys, 
I  have  seen  many  of  them,  and  to  me  there  is  no  place  like 
home." 

"  Easy  enough  for  you  to  say  that,  Sam  Hobart,  who  are 
advanced  and  petted  and  favored  by  every  one,"  replied  an 
associate.  Sam's  reply  was,  "  Boys,  I  get  what  I  can.  If  I 
have  won  confidence,  I  try  to  deserve  it.  I  am  grateful  for  the 
friendship  of  my  superiors  in  position,  but  after  all  this  is  not 
all.  This  is  a  good  road.  There  is  not  an  improvement  which 
we  do  not  have,  and  not  one  of  you  makes  any  special  time  but 
it  is  noticed. 


44  SAM    HOBAKT. 

"  Do  you  remember  how,  when  the  yard  was  full  of  trains 
during  the  last  snow  blockade,  the  call  came  for  men  to  work 
extra  time  ?  You  know  who  found  excuses  for  not  going. 
Those  of  us  who  went  and  who  worked  all  night  and  helped  to 
clear  the  yards,  and  took  the  kink  out  of  the  tangle  of  tied-up 
trains,  were  thanked  by  the  superintendent,  who  was  out  all 
night  and  worked  with  us  as  if  he  were  one  of  us.  For  one, 
I  like  such  employers,  and  am  going  to  stand  by  them.57 

As  when  Jesse  sent  David  to  find  out  how  his  soldier 
brothers  were  getting  on,  green-eyed  jealousy  was  suspicious, 
insinuating,  and  mean,  so  then  and  there  men  were  found  who 
saw  in  Sam's  willingness  to  help,  only  a  spirit  that  sought  pro- 
motion. Nothing  was  further  from  the  truth.  The  spirit  of 
help  was  in  the  man.  He  enjoyed  the  excitement  of  desperate 
and  difficult  work.  He  went  at  it  with  a  will,  and  kept  at  it 
until  victory  was  achieved.  * l  Napoleon, "  it  is  said,  '  '  on  the 
battle-field  was  equal  to  thirty  thousand  men."  Sam,  on  au 
engine  in  a  snow  blockade,  was  an  inspiration  to  all  called  to 
work.  He  was  master  of  the  situation,  and  superintendent  and 
directors  knew  that  everything  possible  would  be  done.  Let 
one  man  or  a  half  dozen  men  arise,  who  believe  that  the  world 
is  not  the  devil's  world  at  all,  but  God's  ;  that  the  multitude  of 
the  people  is  not  the  ruin,  but,  as  Solomon  avers,  the  strength 
of  the  rulers  ;  that  men  are  not  meant  to  be  beasts  of  prey,  eating 
one  another  up  by  competition,  as  in  some  confined  pike  pond 
where  the  great  pike,  having  despatched  the  little  ones,  begin  to 
devour  each  other,  till  one  overgrown  monster  is  left  alone  to 
die  of  starvation  ;  but  rather,  that  every  man  has  his  place,  and 
a  right  to  fill  it.  Let  a  few  men  who  have  brains  and  believe 
that,  arise  to  play  the  men,  and  there  is  a  place  for  them  in 
this  great,  free-hearted  world.  Sam  believed  it,  and  in  the 
heartiest  way  gave  assistance  to  all  in  his  power.  Prompt  to 
the  moment,  quick  to  discern  a  difficulty  and  find  out  a 
remedy,  brave  in  the  midst  of  peril,  and  always  pushing  for  the 
main  chance,  he  came  to  be  recognized  as  one  on  whom,  in  an 
emergency,  men  might  lean.  Having  achieved  this,  he  was 


SAM    BECOMES   A   LOCOMOTIVE   ESTGIKEER.  45 

satisfied.  He  dare  be  true  to  his  own  class  and  seek  such  im- 
provement as  came  within  his  reach.  He  sought  to  befriend 
the  helpless  and  improve  the  condition  of  those  about  him. 
This  made  him  friends  in  his  own  circle,  and  gave  him  introduc- 
tions to  society  about  him.  It  is  not  who  a  man  is  thought  to 
be,  but  what  he  is  within,  that  determines  his  position  in 
society.  The  world  knows  us  better  than  we  think,  and  weighs 
us  with  wonderful  precision4. 


CHAPTER  V. 

THE    RAILROAD    ENGINEER    TAKES    A    WIFE. 

IF  this  were  a  romance  instead  of  a  biography,  I  would  de- 
scribe Sam  at  this  period  of  his  life  in  the  railroad  world  as 
being  what  Stephenson  had  been  in  England,  or  what  Elihu 
Burritt,  in  another  sphere,  became  in  America.  I  would  picture 
him  mastering  arithmetic,  algebra,  philosophy,  and  the  higher 
mathematics,  until  he  attained  the  power  of  weighing  a  star, 
calculating  an  eclipse,  or  telling  how  many  cubic  feet  of  earth 
there  was  in  an  embankment,  or  what  proportions  were  essential 
to  the  solidity  of  a  bridge.  But  this  cannot  be  done,  because 
it  was  not  true. 

The  time  for  free  libraries  and  free  reading-rooms  had  not 
come.  Railroading  was  not  then  what  it  is  now.  There  was 
then  no  room  for  the  engineer  where,  apart  from  wicked  com- 
panions, he  might  culture  his  brain  and  find  that  for  which  his 
heart  yearned.  Sam  was  an  engineer.  At  the  outset  rough, 
profane,  faithful  to  the  road,  and  kind  to  his  companions,  but 
not  a  genius,  not  a  model.  Afterward,  how  he  regretted  wasted 
opportunities  all  know  who  heard  him  speak. 

"  Young  men,"  he  would  say,  "what  are  you  doing? 
Books  are  within  your  reach.  Are  you  not  living  without 
them  and  growing  up  in  ignorance  as  if  they  were  not  ?  If  so, 
you  will  regret  it.  What  you  neglect  now  can  never  be  made 
up  to  you.  What  you  obtain  now  of  knowledge,  of  science. 
and  of  the  wisdom  which  is  from  on  high,  will  always  enrich 
you."  Later  on  he  went  in  for  improvements.  It  is  not 
necessary  that  we  enter  into  the  particulars  of  his  private  life. 
His  mother  is  still  living,  though  in  enfeebled  health,  and  he 
has  several  brothers  and  a  sister.  His  wife  writes  : 


THE   RAILROAD    ENGINEER   TAKES   A   WIFE.  47 

u  A  kinder,  truer,  more  loving  husband  than  Samuel  Brooks 
Hobart  ever  and  always  was,  would  be  difficult  to  find  ;  and 
better  companions  to  a  man's  earthly  lot,  than  Sarah  Jane 
Marston,  of  Newton,  Mass.,  and  Annette  Snow,  of  Lunen- 
burg,  Vt, ,  the  world  does  not  furnish.  They  lie  side  by  side 
with  him  at  Mt.  Auburn,  and  share  with  him,  I  trust,  the 
blessedness  of  the  heavenly  home  ;  and  what  does  it  matter  to 
the  world  that  I  unceasingly  mourn  his  loss  ? 

"  Yours  in  sorrow  deep, 

"  MARY  J.  HOBART.  " 

From  the  first  his  home  was  to  him  a  delight.  He  lived  for 
it  and  lived  in  it.  He  was  glad,  when  the  day's  work  was  done, 
to  give  his  arm  to  his  wife  and  walk  out  to  gaze  upon  the  beau- 
ties of  sea  and  land,  of  garden  and  field. 

Boston,  then  as  now,  was  beautiful.  Nature  had  blessed  it, 
and  art  came  to  adorn  it  as  best  it  could.  He  delighted  to  visit 
the  hill  in  South  Boston  which  overlooks  the  harbor,  and  de- 
scribe the  scenes  of  the  Revolution,  where  Putnam  was  in  Cam- 
bridge, Warren  at  Bunker  Hill,  and  where  a  camp  of  our  revo- 
lutionary sires  saw  from  the  Heights  the  British  furl  their  flags 
and  steal  away,  because  of  the  tactics  of  Washington  and  the 
bravery  of  those  that  stood  about  him.  The  monument  at 
Blinker  Hill  thrilled  him  with  patriotic  emotions.  Boston  is 
the  workingman's  paradise.  There  a  man  is  a  man.  Faneuil 
Hall,  consecrated  to  free  speech  ;  the  Capitol,  in  which  the 
noblest  orators  living  or  dead  have  spoken  ;  Tremont  Temple, 
where  Nathaniel  Culver  preached,  and  Music  Hall  in  which 
Theodore  Parker  stood  forth  as  the  prophet  of  liberty  ;  churches 
in  which  Sharp  and  Neal  and  Stone  and  Pierpoint  and  Chan- 
ning  made  the  welkin  ring  with  words  that  leaped  in  echoes 
round  the  world — these  were  his  delight. 

Mt.  Auburn,  too,  he  loved.  The  chapel  in  which  the  statues 
of  Otis  and  John  Adams  will  ever  instruct  and  inspire,  Harvard 
College  and  the  gallery  of  portraits  in  which  are  pictures  of 
Bowdoin,  Franklin,  Whitefield  and  others,  these  places  were 
known  to  him  and  were  loved  by  him. 


48  SAM    HOB  ART. 

Fifteen  months  of  wedded  bliss  came  and  went,  bearing  with 
them  wife  and  child,  and  he  was  a  widower  and  alone.  It  was 
to  him  a  sad  and  empty  world.  He  needed  Christ.  He  was 
like  parts  of  a  machine  not  joined,  and  so  not  at  work.  For- 
tunately, God  gave  him  in  Miss  Snow,  of  Lunenburg,  Vt.,  a 
second  wife  who  proved  to  be  a  great  blessing.  The  woman's 
life  introduced  him  to  the  Green  Mountain  State,  and  its  won- 
derful scenery,  enlarged  the  range  of  his  vision,  and  gave  him 
an  acquaintance  with  improving  friends.  He  loved  her  and 
all  that  belonged  to  her.  He  delighted  to  take  his  vacations 
by  going  with  her  to  the  old  home.  At  last  she  sickened. 
Through  her  I  came  to  know  her  husband.  Dr.  O.  S.  Saun- 
ders  said  one  day,  "  You  have  a  great  friend  in  Sam  Hobart, 
an  engineer  of  the  Boston  and  Albany  Road,  and  his  wife  is 
very  sick.  I  wish  you  would  go  and  see  her.'7  I  went.  I 
found  her  sitting  in  her  large  rocking-chair  beside  the  window 
that  overlooked  the  railroad,  waiting  for  Sam's  return.  Soon 
the  whistle  sounded.  Her  eye  brightened.  She  looked  out  of 
the  window,  kissed  her  hand  to  the  red-haired  engineer  who, 
with  his  cap  and  overalls  on,  looked  the  workingman.  Quick 
as  a  flash  he  went  past.  She  turned  with  a  pleasant,  proud 
smile  saying,  "  He  always  looks  for  me,  poor  fellow.  I  can't 
wait  here  much  longer  for  him."  The  scene  reminds  us  of 
William  Guild,  who  was  engineer  of  the  train. which  plunged 
into  Meadow  Brook,  on  the  line  of  the  Stonington  and  Provi- 
dence Railroad.  It  was  his  custom,  as  often  as  he  passed  his 
home,  to  whistle  an  "All  is  well"  to  his  wife.  He  was 
found,  after  the  disaster,  dead,  with  his  hand  on  the  throttle- 
valve  of  the  engine.  Bret  Harte  thus  describes  the  scene  : 

"  Two  low  whistles,  quaint  and  clear, 
That  was  the  signal  the  engineer — 

That  was  the  signal  that  Guild,  'tis  said  — 
Gave  to  his  wife  at  Providence, 
As  through  the  sleeping  town  and  thence 
Out  in  the  night, 
On  to  the  light, 
Down  past  the  farms  lying  while  he  sped  ! 


THE    RAILROAD    ENGINEER   TAKES    A    WIFE.  49 

"  As  a  husband's  greeting,  secret,  no  doubt, 
Yet  to  the  woman  looking  out, 

Watching  and  waiting,  no  serenade, 
Love  song,  or  midnight  roundelay 
Said  what  that  whistle  seemed  to  say, 
To  my  trust  true, 
So  love  to  you, 
Working  or  waiting,  good-night  it  said." 

So  was  Sam  Hobart's  greeting  to  her.  How  sad  she  was 
when  she  said,  "  By  and  by  there  will  be  no  one  at  the  window 
here  waiting  for  him."  Then  turning  to  me,  I  said,  "  Are  you 
ready  to  go  ?" 

"  Would  be,  if  he  were  ready  to  follow  on." 

"  Is  he  not  a  Christian  ?" 

"  No,  far  from  it  ;  but  as  good  a  man  as  ever  breathed  to 
me  and  mine."  After  prayer  I  went  forth  to  other  duties,  and 
forgot  the  incident.  In  a  day  or  two  I  received  a  message 
from  the  engineer,  asking  me  to  take  a  seat  on  his  locomotive 
the  next  time  I  went  to  Worcester,  as  a  recognition  of  my 
kindness  to  her  he  loved. 

His  home  life  was  the  theme  of  remark,  not  only  among  his 
comrades  and  friends,  but  among  men  of  wealth  and  position. 
His  widow  delights  to  think  of  his  goodness,  and  to  describe  him 
as  being  the  most  tender  and  devoted  of  husbands.  She  writes  : 

"  His  second  wife  was  an  invalid  for  years.  Consumption 
was  her  disease.  Nothing  could  exceed  the  kindness  with 
which  he  ministered  unto  her  every  want.  Nothing  that  her  pal- 
ate craved  or  her  necessities  required  was  ever  denied  her.  A 
mother  could  not  have  watched  over  an  infant  with  greater 
solicitude.  Attentions  paid  to  her  were  never  forgotten. 

'  This  devotion  so  impressed  his  friends  that  one  of  them 
wrote  him  the  following  letter,  inclosing  one  hundred  dollars, 
which  he  well  knew  Sam«could  find  abundant  use  for  : 

1  MY  DEAR  SIR  AND  BROTHER  i  Inclosed  please  find  my 
check  for  $100,  which  you  will  please  accept  as  a  slight  token 
of  sympathy  and  regard.  The  fidelity  you  have  shown  to  your 


50  SAM    HOBART. 

wife  during  her  seven  long  years  of  suffering  is  truly  commend- 
able, and  excites  the  warmest  admiration  of  your  friends. 
That  you  will  get  your  reward  both  here  and  hereafter,  there 
cannot  be  the  slightest  doubt.  I  can  but  refer,  my  dear  sir,  to 
your  kind  attentions  to  me  in  my  last  sickness  with  feelings  of 
unmixed  gratitude  ;  for  these,  and  for  your  unvarying  friend- 
ship during  the  whole  of  our  acquaintance,  I  feel  I  owe  you  a 
debt  that  money  does  not  pay.  With  these  greetings  I  can 
but  express  my  hearty  sympathy  with  you  and  your  beloved 
wife,  and  with  an  earnest  prayer  that  she  may  be  yet  spared  to 
you  many  years,  I  remain 

"  '  Yours  fraternally. 
"  '  WORCESTER,  April  21,  1868.' 

"  The  same  friend  presented  him  in  1869,  just  as  he  was 
about  uniting  with  the  Church,  with  a  copy  of  the  New  Testa- 
ment, beautifully  printed  in  large  clear  type,  and  bound  in 
four  volumes.  These  books  were  a  great  comfort  to  him,  as 
he  ever  after  in  his  daily  home  readings  read  from  them. 
They  must  have  been  read  through  many  times." 

At  home  Sam  wore  a  troubled  look.  His  wife  was  full  of 
anxiety  about  him.  Though  at  times  he  was  desperate  and  gave 
loose  rein  to  passion  and  profaned  God's  name  in  the  most  ter- 
rible way,  so  that  those  next  him  turned  from  him  and  left 
him  to  blow  out  (as  they  say  of  a  locomotive),  he  felt  humili- 
ated by  his  conduct,  and  saw  that  he  had  disgraced  himself  and 
offended  God.  His  wife's  sweet  ways  and  fervent  prayers 
were  telling  on  him.  Months  before  I  spoke  to  the  engineers, 
the  impression  came  upon  him  that  he  must  go  to  church.  He 
dressed  in  his  best  and  started,  not  vouchsafing  to  tell  whither 
he  was  going.  Passing  down  Harrison  Avenue  he  came  first 
to  Harvard  Street  Church.  This  was  closed  for  repairs.  Now, 
thought  he,  I  have  one  more  Sabbath.  I  will  go  home,  and 
turned  to  do  so.  Instantly  a  voice  seemed  to  say  to  him,  "Go 
on.19  He  dared  not  resist.  He  continued  down  the  avenue 
until  he  came  to  Howe  Street  Church,  into  which  he  walked, 
was  shown  to  a  seat,  and  listened  attentively  to  a  sermon  deliv- 
ered by  Baron  Stone,  D.D.  The  next  Sabbath,  Harvard  Street 


THE    RAILROAD    ENGINEER   TAKES    A    WIFE.  5J 

was  opened,  and  it  being  the  chosen  place  of  worship  of  his 
wife,  he  took  a  seat  and  made  that  his  Sabbath  home. 

In  the  Christian  Union  of  November  19th,  1870,  among  the 
Lecture  Boom  Talks,  by  H.  W.  Beecher,  is  this  reference  to 
Sam  Hobart. 

"  I  think  some  of  my  pleasantest  experiences  in  life,  in  a 
common  way,  are  likely  to  be  on  locomotives.  I  had  the 
pleasure,  yesterday  morning,  of  riding  out  of  Boston  as  far  as 
\Vorcester  on  one  of  the  locomotives  ;  and  on  going  up  to 
South  Framingham  I  was  reminded  of  a  conversation  I  once 
had  there.  I  was  reminded  of  it,  indeed,  before  I  left  Boston, 
because  I  met  in  the  Boston  depot  the  man  with  whom  I  had 
it.  Several  years  ago,  I  was  waiting  to  go  over  to  Marlboro. 
A  }Toung  man  asked  me  if  my  name  was  not  Henry  Ward 
Beecher.  I  said  it  was.  He  asked  me  if  I  had  any  objections 
to  riding  with  him  on  the  machine.  I  said,  '  None  at  all. '  I 
accordingly  went  forward  with  him,  and  before  the  train  started 
he  broke  the  matter  which  he  had  on  his  mind.  He  said  he 
had  a  great  deal  of  trouble  in  regard  to  his  soul's  salvation, 
that  he  did  not  seem  to  get  much  rest,  and  wanted  some  in- 
struction. And  so,  having  such  a  ride  as  Philip  never  had 
with  the  eunuch  in  the  chariot,  I  rode  over  the  hills  and  along  the 
vales  with  him,  preaching  Christ.  After  coming  home  I  sent 
him  a  number  of  religious  books.  When  he  came  to  me  yes- 
terday,  in  the  station  house  in  Boston,  I  remembered  him, 
though  he  commenced  to  explain  who  he  was,  and  that  we  had 
once  had  some  conversation.  He  was  my  blood-brother,  and  I 
felt  the  kinship.  I  went  forward  to  see  his  engine,  for  I  take 
more  pleasure  in  riding  if  I  see  the  machine  that  is  going  to 
draw  me.  I  wanted  to  see  what  its  name  was,  where  it  was 
built,  what  its  peculiarities  were,  and  so  on,  and  then,  too,  who 
was  its  engineer.  I  knew  him  of  old.  He  is  a  large,  florid- 
faced,  frank,  but  firm  man.  You  would  not  like  to  run  against 
him,  but  you  would  like  to  lean  against  him.  The  moment  he 
saw  me,  he  called  to  me  and  said,  l  Come,  get  up  and  ride  with 
me.'  '  Certainly  I  will,'  I  said,  and  I  had  hardly  sat  down 


52  SAM    HUB  ART. 

before  he  broke  out  to  tell  me  what  the  Lord  had  done  for  his 
soul.  He  gave  me  a  very  interesting  history  of  his  experience. 
He  told  me  how  he  had  been  for  some  years  secretly  believing 
that  he  was  a  disciple  of  Christ,  and  doing  many  things  which 
he  recognized  as  belonging  to  a  Christian's  life,  though  he  was 
not  willing  to  come  out  and  make  a  profession  of  Christ  before 
men.  How  at  last  his  heart  became  so  full  that  he  could  not 
conceal  his  faith  any  longer,  and  he  went  and  joined  a  Baptist 
Church.  He  said  he  had  *  gone  down  into  the  water  (I  knew 
what  he  meant),  *  and  that  now  he  was  a  joyful  and  earnest 
Christian.'  He  told  me  in  the  course  of  our  conversation  a 
very  interesting  fact,  which  I  will  repeat. 

"  '  There  was  a  time,'  he  said,  '  when  there  was  not  a  man 
on  that  road  that  he  knew  of  who  professed  Christ  ;  but  now, ' 
he  said,  *  we  have  fifty  men  on  this  road  who  are  professing 
Christians  ;  men  that  do  not  drink,  that  do  love  God,  and  pro- 
fess his  Son,  Jesus  Christ.  And  more  are  coming.'  And  then 
he  told  me  how  he  worked  with  them.  Said  he,  4  It  does  not 
seem  as  if  it  was  right  to  try  and  give  a  man  the  whole  of  relig- 
ion at  once,  all  in  a  heap.  He  will  not  read  a  full  chapter,  but 
if  you  take  him  right  ho  will  read  one  verse,  and  after  a  while 
he  will  read  two  verses  on  his  own  account,  and  then  he  will 
read  on  a  little  more.  And  so  he  will  go  along  step  by  step. 
Get  him  to  leave  off  tobacco,  and  then  he  will  leave  off  some- 
f  thing  else.  And  when  he  gets  agoing,  shove  him  along,  and 
keep  him  a-moving. ' 

"  He  showed  good  mother-wit  in  the  methods  he  pursued  in 
working  for  men.  He  took  men  on  the  subject  of  religion  as 
merchants  and  others  take  men  in  business.  They  do  not  come 
up  to  a  man  at  any  time  and  disclose  their  whole  plans  at  once. 
They  study  their  times  and  plans.  They  frequently  confer  to- 
gether as  to  the  best  way  to  approach  a  man,  and  gradually  win 
him  over  and  carry  him  along  with  them.  He  said  he  had 
studied  men  to  get  at  the  best  mode  of  dealing  with  them,  and 
had  exercised  his  skill  and  judgment  in  reaching  their  convic- 
tions, and  then  when  he  had  got  them  started  on  the  right 


THE   RAILROAD    EKGIXEER  TAKES   A    WIFE.  53 

path,  had  kept  them  moving  along,  and  finally  brought  them  to 
Christ.  So  we  went  to  Worcester,  talking  all  the  way  ;  and  it 
*  was  a  good  meeting  to  my  soul." 

It  was  during  the  time  intervening  between  Mr.  Beecher's 
sending  him  the  books  and  when  he  last  saw  him,  that  I  met 
him,  and  saw  him  surrender  his  soul  unconditionally  to  Christ. 
One  night  I  remember  to  have  seen  him  in  the  Temple  prayer- 
meeting.  Great  numbers  of  workingmen  came,  and  he  came 
with  them  occasionally.  There  was  a  good  deal  of  feeling  in 
the  congregation.  Sinners  were  coming  to  Christ. 

Seeing  him  while  a  hymn  was  being  sung,  I  went  to  him  and 
spoke  to  him  about  his  soul.  My  rebuff  I  will  never  forget. 
The  sequel  makes  it  bearable,  and  may  help  some  who  are  dis- 
couraged by  the  reception  given  to  their  earnest  pleadings  to 
go  on. 

"  Have  you  made  a  profession  of  religion  ?"  I  asked  him. 
He  said  with  some  emphasis,  "/  have  not." 

"  Have  you  given  your  heart  to  God  ?" 

"  No,  sir,  and  don't  want  to  do  so  at  present." 

I  could  say  no  more,  and  went  on  with  a  great  sorrow  in  my 
heart.  It  did  not  drive  him  away.  He  always  seemed  to  feel 
that  I  was  his  friend,  and  afterward  he  thanked  me  for  coming, 
saying,  "  When  you  spoke  to  me,  I  did  not  want  to  be  made 
an  example  of,  but  when  going  home  I  blamed  myself  for  my 
rudeness  ;  I  could  see  by  your  looks  that  it  cost  you  a  great 
deal  of  love  for  your  Master  and  for  souls  to  come  to  me,  and 
that  you  deserved  something  better  than  a  repulse,  and  in  my 
heart  I  thanked  you,  and  rejoiced  that  some  one  had  taken  an 
interest  in  me. 

u  I  was  then  under  conviction.  My  wife  was  dying.  My 
heart  was  breaking.  When  she  told  me  of  your  prayer  in  my 
behalf  I  determined  to  see  you.  The  result  was  I  was  ready 
for  you  when  you  came.  I  had  spoken  of  you  to  my  wife, 
told  her  how  your  appeals  to  sinners  affected  me,  and  yet  how 
blind  I  was.  My  heart  revolted.  I  did  not  want  to  be  con- 
verted in  God's  way,  but  in  my  own." 


54  SAM    HOB  ART 

It  was  in  the  fall  of  1867  that  I  accepted  his  invitation  to 
take  a  ride  on  his  locomotive.  I  knew  that  Mr.  Beecher  was 
interested  in  him,  that  he  had  sent  him  books  and  had  given 
him  money  to  aid  poor  families  in  distress,  whose  husbands  he 
was  helping  on  to  their  feet. 

All  this  struggling  for  a  higher  and  better  life  told  on  his 
looks.  It  softened  him.  He  spoke  in  a  lower  tone  and  with 
more  gentleness.  He  was  master  on  the  locomotive,  whatever 
he  might  be  elsewhere.  You  saw  it  in  his  stride  and  heard  it 
in  his  voice.  Never  can  I  forget  his  bearing  on  that  crisp  and 
cold  November  morning  when  I  entered  the  depot,  thinking  if 
all  was  well  I  would  ride  to  Worcester  on  his  locomotive. 

On  inquiring,  I  found  that  it  was  his  train,  and  went  up  and 
spoke  to  him  as  he  stood  in  the  door  of  the  depot  waiting  for 
the  fireman  to  bring  up  the  engine.  He  was  well  dressed,  and 
looked  as  if  he  might  be  going  to  take  a  seat  in  a  palace  car. 
"  Good-morning,  Mr.  Hobart,"  I  said.  He  looked  round, 
recognized  me,  and  said,  "Good-morning,"  with  a  great  heart 
in  his  salutation.  "  Going  to  Worcester  ?"  "  Yes."  "  Take 
a  ride  with  me?"  "If  agreeable."  "Perfectly."  The 
engine  was  coming  up.  Taking  my  satchel  he  introduced  me 
to  his  assistant.  The  boy  bowed  without  noticing  the  new- 
comer. Sam  saw  it,  and  said  : 

"Take  off  your  hat."  He  took  it  off.  "  Take  off  your 
glove."  He  did  so.  "  Shake  hands  with  the  gentleman. 
This  is  the  minister  that  visited  ray  wife." 

At  once  the  fireman  put  his  heart  into  look  and  hand-shake 
as  he  said,  "  I  am  glad  to  sec  Mr.  Hobart' s  friend." 

My  satchel  and  umbrella  were  placed  in  the  chest  or  box 
where  the  engineer  carried  his  clothes  and  dinner.  Then  the 
fireman  took  a  piece  of  cloth  and  spread  it  on  the  seat  at  the 
right  of  the  locomotive — and  asked  me  to  be  seated,  to  put 
my  feet  up  so.  I  put  my  feet  up  so — to  hold  my  hands  in 
such  a  position.  I  held  them  as  directed  and  waited,  not 
knowing  more  than  Paul  what  was  to  befall  me.  Sam  then  put 
on  his  overalls,  cap  and  gloves,  and  was  ready  for  business. 


THE    RAILROAD    ENGINEER   TAKES    A    WIFE.  55 

The  half -past  eight  bell  struck.  The  whistle  sounded,  the  train 
started.  Coming  by  the  house  near  the  track  on  the  right,  I 
remembered  the  window,  as  I  saw  the  engineer  looking  for  a 
farewell  from  his  wife.  His  face  was  out  at  the  door,  hers  was 
at  the  window.  He  bowed,  she  kissed  her  pale  hand,  and  he 
went  to  his  work.  At  the  Providence  crossing  all  came  to  a 
stand-still.  Flagmen,  trackmen,  and  others  saluted  him,  and  he 
bowed  or  spoke  to  men,  never  as  a  sycophant,  but  always  as  a 
friend.  Across  the  Providence  track  we  went  at  regulation 
pace,  then  we  started  to  make  time.  How  we  flew  !  Towns 
were  like  beads  strung  upon  the  thread  of  this  railroad  track. 
The  foliage  of  the  trees  was  in  variegated  colors.  Every- 
thing was  robed  in  beauty  ;  distant  mountains,  "  blue  hills," 
quiet  lakes,  all  attracted  notice  as  we  dashed  on.  I  have  said 
he  was  proud  of  his  locomotive.  I  think  he  loved  it  as  a 
friend.  He  handled  the  machine  with  great  strength.  The 
sensation  produced  was  delightful  and  soul -inspiring.  We 
passed  Brighton  and  the  Newtons,  and  were  just  making  for  the 
open  country,  when  I  saw  him  spring.  He  whistled  up  the 
brakes.  He  had  no  air  brake  then.  There  was  commotion 
everywhere.  The  fireman  grew  white.  As  soon  as  I  could 
speak  I  inquired  the  cause,  and  he  replied  in  his  quick  way, 
"  See  the  flag  !"  I  had  not  seen  it.  It  was  too  far  away  for 
my  unpractised  eye.  But  the  engineer  saw  it,  and  stopped  in 
a  brief  time.  Soon  a  man  came,  saying,  "  A  train  is  on  this 
track?  and  is  trying  to  get  back. "  Sam  at  once  replied,  "  All 
right  !"  and,  turning  to  me,  said,  "  No  danger.  That  train 
cannot  stay  on  this  track.  There  is  some  trouble.  I  will  go 
and  help  them  ;"  and,  whistling  up  the  brakes,  he  took  the 
flagman  on,  asked  him  about  matters,  and  crept  on  at  a  slow 
pace.  In  a  few  moments  we  reached  the  curve.  He  sent 
the  man  on,  and,  almost  before  we  had  turned  the  curve,  he 
whistled  up  the  brakes,  and  we  swept  on.  Turning  to  me,  he 
said,  "  This  comes  from  having  a  clear  brain.  A  man  mud- 
dled with  beer  or  whiskey  is  not  safe  in  such  a  place."  My  ad- 
miration for  the  man  kindled  into  a  glow,  and  I  said  to  him, 


56  SAM    HOBART. 

as  soon  as  we  got  straightened  out,  and  were  flying  on  again  : 
"  Sam,  why  don't  you  let  the  Lord  Jesus  run  you  as  you  run 
this  locomotive  ?"  "  Can't  do  it,  can  He  ?"  "  That  is  what 
He  is  for."  "  You  don't  know  me.  I  am  a  very  profane  and 
wicked  man."  "  Yes  ;  but  He  wants  you,  and  died  for  you, 
and  God  says,  '  He  came  unto  His  own,  and  His  own  received 
Him  not.  But  as  many  as  received  Him,  to  them  gave  He 
power  to  become  the  sons  of  God,  even  to  them  that  believe  on 
His  name  ;  which  were  born,  not  of  blood,  nor  of  the  will  of 
the  flesh,  nor  of  the  will  of  man,  but  of  God.'  "  "  Where  is 
that  promise  ?"  "In  John's  gospel,  first  chapter,  eleventh  to 
the  thirteenth  verse,  inclusive."  "  Can  I  pray?"  "Jesus 
commands  you  to  try,  saying,  '  Ask,  and  ye  shall  receive,  seek, 
and  ye  shall  find.'  '  "  But  I  am  terribly  profane."  "  Yes  ; 
but  if  you  will  give  Christ  welcome  to  your  heart,  He  will  take 
that  all  out  of  you.  Try  it." 

In  due  time  we  reached  Worcester,  and  we  parted,  with  the 
assurance  from  him  that  he  would  bend  his  knees  in  prayer  be- 
fore God  that  day  in  his  room  at  twelve  o'clock  M.,  and  I  was 
to  meet  him  at  the  throne  of  grace.  That  day  Jesus  came  to 
his  help,  and  he  never  uttered  another  profane  expression. 

The  next  night,  on  his  return  from  Worcester,  he  came  to  my 
house.  He  wore  a  changed  look.  We  went  direct  to  the  par- 
lor, when  I  inquired  as  to  how  he  had  got  on.  His  reply  I  can 
never  forget.  "The  profanity  is  gone,  but  I  am  in  hell." 
"  Not  if  you  will  confess  Christ  with  your  lips,  and  believe  on 
Him  in  your  heart,  for  with  the  heart  man  believeth  unto 
righteousness,  and  with  the  mouth  confession  is  made  unto  sal- 
vation." His  reply  was,  "  I  am  ready  for  this."  "  Then  let 
us  pray."  Down  he  dropped  upon  his  knees,  confessed  Christ 
as  a  Saviour,  and  gave  himself  to  Christ. 

He  did  not  at  once  make  a  profession.  He  did  not  attend 
the  Temple.  The  wife  he  loved  was  a  member  of  Harvard 
Street,  and  out  of  respect  to  her,  and  because  of  his  sincere  love 
for  her  pastor,  he  continued  to.  worship  there.  His  wife  died 
October  5th,  1868.  After  this  he  was  much  with  us.  He 


THE    RAILROAD    ENGINEER   TAKES   A    WIFE.  57 

often  spoke.  But  he  did  not  join  our  Church.  He  presented 
himself  for  membership,  and  was  baptized  by  Rev.  S.  W.  Fol- 
jambe,  on  the  first  Sabbath  of  1869.  It  was  to  him  a  won- 
derful day.  Then  he  was  buried  to  the  world  and  rose  to  a 
newness  of  life.  He  had  been  a  lion  for  Satan.  He  was 
henceforth  to  be  a  lion  for  Christ.  He  was,  said  a  judge  of 
human  nature,  "  A  man  you  would  not  like  to  run  against,  but 
one  you  would  like  to  lean  upon." 

In  due  time  he  married  again.  This  third  wife  is  now  his 
widow.  She  had  been  a  school-teacher,  and  was  blessed  with 
advantages  which  were  of  incalculable  benefit  to  her  husband. 
He  was  proud  of  her  gifts,  and  gloried  in  her  graces.  To  her 
pen  we  are  indebted  for  this  sketch.  She  said  : 

"  He  found  his  work  all  around  him,  his  meat  and  drink  it 
was  to  do  the  Master's  will.  Stronger  than  any  earthly  love 
was  his  love  for  Christ.  Sweeter  than  food  or  rest  or  any 
earthly  enoyment  was  labor  in  his  Saviour's  cause. 

"  He  was  ever  obliging  and  willing  to  do  any  favor  for  any 
one  needing  it.  I  never  knew  him  to  give  reluctant  consent  or 
to  deny  his  efforts,  if  it  were  possible  for  him  to  give  them, 
even  though  at  sacrifice  on  his  part.  Only  the  last  Thanksgiv- 
ing Day,  he  declined  taking  from  home  his  usual  dinner,  be- 
cause a  friend  in  Worcester  had  engaged  him  to  dine  with  him. 
Hearing  of  a  family  in  distressed  circumstances — the  husband 
and  father  sick  with  rheumatism  for  six  years — he  gave  up  his 
Thanksgiving  invitation,  and  spent  all  his  leisure  time  in  visit- 
ing this  family  and  talking  with  them  of  Jesus,  returning  home 
wonderfully  blessed  in  spirit  though,  after  his  two  long  rides 
and  his  all  day  fasting,  physically  weary  and  hungry. 

"  He  would  often,  after  his  day's  labor  was  ended,  walk  a 
mile  or  two  to  see  people  in  whose  case  he  had  become  inter- 
ested, or  to  help  in  the  conduct  of  a  meeting  of  any  evangelical 
denomination.  Baptists,  Methodists,  Congregationalists,  Ad- 
ventists,  all  were  glad  of  his  cheerful  help,  and  all  loved  him  as 
a  dear  brother  in  Christ.  His  labors  in  the  temperance  cause 
were  unwearied.  He  always  felt  that  he  did  not  know  how  to 


58  SAM    HOB  ART. 

address  a  temperance  meeting,  from  the  want  of  personal  knowl- 
edge, having  never  been  a  drinking  man  ;  but  he  could  see  the 
effects  upon  others,  and  he  felt  the  deepest  sympathy  for  those 
whose  appetite  was  becoming  their  ruin,  and  he  labored  for 
them  individually  with  the  greatest  patience. 

"  He  grew  in  grace  daily,  his  progress  was  wonderful.  He 
lived  very  near  to  Christ.  By  prayer,  by  reading  the  Bible, 
and  comparing  passage  with  passage,  he  became  acquainted 
•with  what  God  requires  of  His  children. 

"  He  had  a  little  room  in  his  home  which  he  made  a  very 
Bethel  of.  Every  morning  he  retired  to  it,  and  the  tones  of  his 
voice  could  be  heard  in  earnest  pleadings  with  his  God,  as  a 
man  talketh  face  to  face  with  his  friend  ;  and  from  this  room 
he  would  come  forth  with  eyes  suffused  with  tears,  while  his 
countenance  glowed  with  joy,  and  the  tenderness  of  his  manner 
would  tell  of  the  sweetness  of  his  communion  with  his  heavenly 
Father.  Thus  fortified  and  prepared,  he  would  go  forth  to  his 
daily  labor. 

"  He  carried  all  things  to  God  in  prayer,  and  acknowledged 
God's  interest  even  in  the  most  trivial  affairs  of  life.  It  was 
his  custom  to  kindle  the  kitchen  fire  every  morning,  and  for 
this  purpose  he  would  always  collect  together  his  shavings, 
wood  and  coal  the  night  previous.  One  morning  being  in  un- 
usual haste,  things,  as  we  say,  wouldn't  work  :  the  wood  was 
green,  and  the  fire  refused  to  start.  Immediately  his  thought 
went  forth  to  God,  and  he  prayed,  *  O  Lord,  Thou  knowest  I 
am  in  haste  ;  Thou  canst  make  even  green  wood  to  burn  as  well 
as  dry  ;  if  it  be  Thy  will,  aid  me  now. J  Need  we  say  the  sim- 
ple, child-like  prayer  was  accepted  of  the  loving  Father,  and 
the  fire  immediately  kindled  ?  It  was  even  so. 

"  And  this  was  only  one  of  many,  many  instances  of  direct 
answers  to  his  prayers. 

1  When  the  Westinghaus  brake  was  first  applied  to  his 
engine,  he  felt  some  fear  of  trusting  it,  especially  at  one  place 
— the  Providence  crossing,  I  think,  where  it  had  never  been 
tried,  and  where  much  depended  on  the  perfection  with  which 


THE   KAILROAD   ENGINEEB   TAKES   A   WIFE.  59 

the  train  was  brought  to  a  stand-still.  He  asked  for  permission 
to  use  the  brake  at  this  place,  and  it  being  granted,  he  made 
this  a  subject  of  earnest  prayer,  well  knowing  that  things 
which  to  man  were  new  and  strange,  to  God  were  all  open  as 
day.  He  then  made  the  attempt,  with  his  reliance  on  God, 
and  was  successful  ;  and  to  God  he  gave  all  the  praise.  '  He 
left  his  dying  testimony  that  his  Bible  had  enabled  him  to  run 
his  train  in  the  name  and  fear  of  God,  and  that  he  never  went 
around  a  curve  in  the  road  without  asking  for  the  guidance  and 
sight  of  ^hat  eye  which  goes  in  advance  of  all  earthly  vision, 
and  had  never  pulled  the  throttle  of  his  engine  without  feeling 
a  responsibility  to  God  for  the  long  train  of  immortal  souls 
under  his  care  and  guidance.' 

1  i  It  was  not  enough  for  him  to  read  his  Bible  at  home,  but 
he  requested  one  to  be  purchased  to  carry  on  his  engine.  This 
was  done  about  five  years  ago,  and  ever  since  it  has  been  his 
daily  companion  ;  several  times  read  through,  as  pencil  marks 
indicate,  and  the  sweetest  passages  appropriated,  as  other  pencil 
marks  show — now  blackened  by  smoke,  and  worn  with  use,  it 
is  cherished  as  a  sacred  treasure  by  one  who,  in  Worcester, 
was  associated  with  him  in  Christian  work. 

"  When  he  reached  Worcester,  it  was  his  custom  to  repair 
to  the  bath-room  where,  after  removing  the  smoke  and  dust 
gathered  in  his  ride,  he  would  have  another  season  of  prayer 
and  reading  '  God's  Word  ;'  and  then  to  the  room  where  the 
*  Young  Men's  Christian  Association  '  held  a  noon  prayer-meet- 
ing, conversing  on  the  way  with  any  whom  he  met.  His 
power  of  illustration  was  very  great,  and  he  was  never  at  a  loss 
for  a  simile  to  point  his  argument,  nor  for  words  to  clothe  his 
thoughts  ;  and  so,  his  4  glowing  utterances  thrilled  all  hearts/ 
and  helped  to  give  life  and  interest  to  the  meetings. 

"  Often  after  the  meeting  closed,  he  would  talk  with  one  and 
another  till  three  o'clock,  before  he  would  get  the  opportunity 
to  eat  the  little  cold  dinner  which  it  was  his  custom  to  carry 
daily.  Then  taking  charge  of  his  engine  at  half -past  three,  he 
was  due  in  Boston  shortly  before  five,  and  he  reached  his  home 


60  SAM    HOBART. 

usually  by  half-past  five  ;  then  supper  and  a  little  rest,  and  he 
was  again  off  to  attend  some  religious  meeting,  or  to  visit  some 
family  in  sickness  or  poverty. 

"  Thus  he  spent  his  days,  rising  early,  that  he  l  might  havo 
more  time  to  pray,'  as  he  often  said,  and  retiring  late  after  a 
day  filled  with  good  works.  As  one  recently  said  of  him,  *  lie 
has  done  the  work  of  two  men  for  more  than  a  year  past.' 
And  this  very  extra  labor,  coupled  with  disease,  made  him  an 
easy  prey,  and  ere  we  thought  of  it  the  Lord  pronounced  his 
work  done,  and  called  him  home. 

"  His  general  intelligence  was  remarkable,  his  eyes  and  cars 
were  ever  open,  and  he  managed  to  acquaint  himself  with 
almost  everything  that  was  going  on.  His  argumentative  power 
was  so  great  that  we  often  thought  what  a  capital  lawyer  he 
would  have  made  ;  or,  better  still,  as  we  saw  love  to  Jesus  so 
shine  out  in  his  character,  what  a  preacher  might  he  have  be- 
come !  Indeed,  one  of  his  dreams  was  of  some  day  retiring 
from  the  road,  and  securing  a  little  place  in  the  country,  with 
a  small  patch  of  ground  to  cultivate  for  support,  and  to  go 
around  in  the  towns  and  villages,  as  layman,  seeking  to  lead 
souls  to  Christ.  But  the  dream  is  past — the  Lord  has  done 
better  for  him  and  taken  him  to  the  mansion  of  which  he  so 
often  and  so  confidently  spoke.  A  few  months  ago,  he 
removed  from  one  residence  to  another,  which  was,  in  some 
respects,  more  eligible.  After  he  had  got  things  settled  to  his 
mind,  he  met  a  friend  one  day  to  whom  he  told  how  pleasantly 
he  was  situated,  and  what  a  nice  home  it  seemed  ;  but  then, 
said  he,  what  is  that  to  my  heavenly  home — the  mansion  my 
Saviour  is  preparing  for  me  !  So  heavenly-minded  was  he, 
that  almost  his  entire  conversation  was  of  divine  things. 

"  He  lived  religion  in  his  home.  He  never  went  into  the  pres- 
ence of  his  wife  in  dirty  garments  or  with  soiled  hands.  His 
home  was  his  castle.  His  wife  was  the  pride  of  his  life.  As 
he  arrayed  himself  in  his  best  garments  to  win  her  love  when 
he  wooed  her,  he  entered  his  home,  and  walked  the  streets  as  a 
well-dressed  gentleman.  As  a  result  his  wife  was  proud  of  his 


THE   RAILROAD   ENGINEER  TAKES   A   WIFE.  61 

attentions.  Flowers  he  loved,  the  fruits  of  earth  told  him  of 
God. 

"  Ono  friend  who  met  him  but  once,  and  then  only  for  a 
short  time,  writes  :  i  How  often  I  have  thought  of  what  Mr. 
Hobart  said  about  the  tomato.  That  if  we  got  a  plant  and  set 
it  out,  we  should  not  go  in  the  morning  to  look  for  a  tomato, 
but  that  first  we  should  look  for  the  blossom,  then  the  bud,  and 
then  for  the  tomato  ;  he  said  it  was  just  so  in  coming  to  Christ, 
do  not  at  first  try  to  do  some  great  thing,  but  fiist  believe,  and 
then,  before  you  know  it,  you  will  be  working  for  Him,  and 
bringing  forth  fruit  to  His  glory. ' 

"  Also,  in  speaking  of  using  the  light  you  have  at  first  in 
divine  things,  without  waiting  for  an  increase,  he  said  :  l  When 
I  first  began  to  run  upon  the  railroad  we  had  a  very  little 
light,  a  mere  lantern,  to  see  by,  and  we  did  the  best  we  could  to 
run  by  its  light  ;  now  we  have  those  large  head-lights,  which 
all  have  seen,  and  which  throw  their  rays  for  a  long  distance 
upon  the  track.' 

"  Since  his  death  we  have  heard  of  one  friend  who  in  pre- 
senting himself  for  church-membership  said  that  a  few  words 
which  Mr.  Hobart  said  to  a  company  of  inquirers,  gathered  to- 
gether in  a  little  room  in  Tremont  Temple,  were  the  means,  by 
God's  blessing,  of  letting  light  into  his  mind.  Mr.  Hobart 
said  :  4  All  you  have  to  do  is  to  believe  and  receive  ;  the  friend 
did  this,  and  immediately  rejoiced  in  salvation.' 

"  Once,  visiting  in  Vermont  a  Christian  woman,  be  found  her 
mind  beclouded,  worrying  because  heaven  was  not  open  to  her 
view.  He  said  :  '  When  wife  and  I  started  for  this  mountain- 
ous region  we  journeyed  along  for  some  time  through  a  very 
flat  country,  talking  pleasantly  of  the  things  that  presented 
themselves.  We  knew  where  we  were  coming  to,  and  that  by 
and  by  the  mountains  would  rise  before  us,  but  we  did  not  try 
to  see  them  till  we  came  to  them,  and  then  in  all  their  grandeur 
they  stood  on  every  side,  and  we  could  not  help  seeing  them  if 
we  would.  So  now  in  our  Christian  life  let  us  take  and  enjoy 
the  comforts  God  gives  us  day  by  day,  and  live  upon  Him 


62  SAM    HOBART. 

wholly,  trusting  that  by  and  by,  when  in  our  life's  journey  we 
reach  the  borders  of  that  heavenly  country,  the  eye  of  faith, 
trained  to  spiritual  vision,  will  clearly  distinguish  and  accept  the 
home  prepared  for  us  by  Him  who  loved  us  and  gave  Himself 
for  us/ 

"  His  humility  was  very  marked.  *  He  sought  not  for  great 
opportunities  of  usefulness,  but  was  willing  to  do  the  little 
things.'  It  had  been  his  custom  for  years  past  to  take  a  fort- 
night's vacation  at  the  end  of  summer,  and  among  the  green 
hills  of  Vermont  to  seek  renewed  strength.  But  his  zeal  in 
the  Master's  cause  allowed  him  but  little  rest.  He  would  hear 
of  one  and  another  whom  sickness  had  laid  aside,  or  whose 
heart  had  grown  cold  in  the  service  of  Christ,  and  he  must  be 
off  to  see  such,  and  conversing  with  them  try  to  lift  their  hearts 
above  tlieir  sufferings  in  the  first  instance,  and  to  stimulate  to 
renewed  consecration  in  the  second.  And  then  he  would  use 
his  influence  for  an  increase  of  meetings  for  conference  and 
prayer,  and  these  would  be  held  and  well  attended,  and  much 
interest  would  prevail.  The  last  season  he  was  absent  from 
Boston  fourteen  days,  including  the  two  days  spent  in  journey- 
ing to  and  from  his  destination,  and  in  that  time  he  attended 
fifteen  different  meetings,  besides  visiting  and  holding  direct 
personal  religious  conversation  with  a  large  number  of  individ- 
uals, both  those  professing  Christianity  and  those  who  made  no 
profession.  He  felt  that  he  had  done  the  Lord's  service,  but 
he  failed  to  secure  that  rest  which  his  physical  nature  required. 
And  so  he  lived.  He  daily  prayed  that  he  might  '  put  his  hand 
in  the  Saviour's  hand,  and  be  led  by  Him,'  and  the  prayer  was 
truly  answered,  for  no  one  could  live  nearer  to  the  heart  of 
Jesus  than  he  manifestly  did. 

"  He  was  benevolent  so  far  as  his  means  allowed  him  to  be. 
Never  allowed  the  contribution  box  to  pass  him  unheeded,  and 
never  turned  away  from  the  plea  of  poverty  and  distress,  if  he 
could  conscientiously  relieve  it.  On  one  occasion  Rev.  H.  W. 
Beecher  in  riding  with  him  became  so  interested  in  his  ac- 
count of  drunkards  trying  to  reform,  and  others  in  distress, 


THE    RAILROAD    ENGINEER   TAKES    A    WIFE.  63 

that,  on  leaving  him,  he  handed  him  twenty  dollars  to  be  ex- 
pended, as  he  thought  best,  for  the  relief  of  such  distressed  per- 
sons. This  money,  with  five  dollars  given  some  time  after  by 
another  minister,  was  most  sacredly  devoted  to  the  use  designed. 
He  kept  a  record  of  every  dollar's  outlay.  Whenever  he  gave 
any  of  it  away,  he  would  say,  i  That  is  the  Lord's  money.  I 
have  prayed  over  that,  be  careful  how  you  use  it'  ;  the  last  dol- 
lar of  this  money  was  given  away  about  two  months  and  a  half 
before  he  was  taken  ill." 

Sam  having  become  a  Christian  led  a  Christian  life.  He  car- 
ried the  golden  thread  of  Christian  love  through  all  the  web 
and  woof  of  his  existence.  We  have  seen  him  as  he  appeared 
to  Mr.  Beecher,  to  his  wife  and  friends.  He  appeared  a  Chris- 
tian because  he  was  one.  His  Christian  power  was  a  growth. 
He  became  a  potential  force  among  railroad  men,  and  was 
known  far  and  near  as  the  Christian  engineer. 


CHAPTER   VI. 

SAM'S    TACT    IN    PREACHING    TEMPERANCE. 

SAM  had  tact  as  well  as  talent.  This  was  shown  quite  as 
much  in  his  enthusiastic  admiration  of  other  people  as  in  his 
influence  over  those  who  needed  help  to  get  out  of  the  mire 
and  get  upon  the  rock.  There  are  men  who  desire  to  appear 
as  bottom,  sides,  and  top  to  every  enterprise  with  which  they 
are  identified.  It  was  never  so  with  Sam.  He  was  as  good  a 
listener  as  he  was  a  talker.  Nothing  pleased  him  more  than  to 
hear  railroad  men  praised  for  being  valiant  for  the  truth.  The 
Christian  engineers  on  the  different  roads  were  brothers  indeed. 
On  my  return  from  England  I  told  him  of  an  experience  I  had 
coming  one  night  from  London  to  Liverpool,  which  pleased 
and  encouraged  him.  It  was  on  the  evening  of  September  1st, 
1868,  after  having  met  in  the  great  temperance  fete  at  the 
Crystal  Palace  some  35,000  temperance  people,  who  had  come 
from  all  parts  of  Great  Britain,  to  plan  for  further  work  and  to 
report  on  what  had  been  achieved.  It  had  been  a  wonderful 
day.  I  had  attempted  to  speak  to  the  great  crowd  and,  weaned 
with  toil,  had  sunk  back  in  the  corner  of  the  car  to  sleep.  After 
a  time  I  was  disturbed  by  a  man  saying  : 

"  You  ought  to  be  ashamed  of  yourself,  sir.  Nobody  wants 
to  ride  in  a  car  scented  up  with  the  smell  of  whiskey.  It  is  a 
disgrace  and  a  shame  to  see  a  man  pull  a  bottle  and  drink  in  an 
open  car  like  this." 

I  opened  my  eyes  and  saw  that  a  finely- dressed  man  had  un- 
corked a  bottle  of  whiskey,  and  was  handing  it  to  gentlemen  in 
the  car  prior  to  helping  himself. 

The  man  replied,  "  What  business  is  it  to  you  ?" 


SAM'S   TACT   IN    PREACHING   TEMPERANCE.  65 

"  Business  to  me  !  I  will  tell  you  what  business  it  is  to 
me.  I  am  a  passenger  on  this  car  and  have  a  right  to  ride  in 
safety.  Who  knows  what  peril  may  sleep  in  that  bottle  !  It 
may  make  you  a  demon.  It  may  make  your  neighbor  a  con- 
spirator. There  is  enough  of  devil  in  that  bottle  to  convert 
this  place  in  an  hour  into  a  hell.  Business,  sir  !  I  would  have 
a  right  to  fight  a  rattlesnake  let  loose,  or  hinder  you  from  letting 
one  loose.  I  tell  you  there  is  a  venom  in  strong  drink  as  per- 
ilous as  there  is  in  a  rattlesnake." 

The  man  protested  against  such  treatment,  but  his  antagonist 
appealed  to  us  if  he  was  not  in  the  right. 

One  man  replied,  "  I  think  whiskey  may  be  good  as  a  medi- 
cine." 

1  Yes,"  said  the  first  man,    "  my  physician  orders  me  to 
drink." 

"  Nonsense,"  said  the  champion  of  temperance.  "  A  plenty 
of  men  have  followed  such  prescriptions  and  are  in  a  drunk- 
ards' hell  to-night.  They  are  wailing  in  a  drunkards'  hell, 
sir, "  said  the  man,  slapping  his  knee. 

Things  looked  desperate.  Then  I  was  appealed  to.  I  stood 
by  the  advocate  of  temperance,  and  in  speaking  had  to  strain 
my  voice  as  hard  as  when  I  spoke  in  the  Crystal  Palace. 

"  Give  me  your  hand,  stranger.  I  heard  you  to-day.  Now 
help,  sir.  Let  us  persuade  these  young  men  to  toss  the  bottle 
out  of  the  window." 

He  then  told  them  his  experience.  It  was  a  familiar  one. 
He  thought  liquor  would  do  him  good,  would  steady  his  nerves, 
would  help  him  to  hold  a  place  ;  "  but,"  said  he,  "  gentle- 
men, it  lost  me  everything  and  it  nearly  cost  me  my  life.  Then 
a  man  came  to  me  in  the  shape  of  a  minister  of  Christ,  though 
he  wore  a  smock  frock  and  was  a  working-man  as  I  am,  but  he 
came  fearlessly  and  determinedly,  and  he  said,  '  Joe,  stop  ! '  I 
said,  i  I  can't.'  '  With  God's  help  you  can.'  '  How  will  I 
get  that  help  ? '  'By  prayer. '  '  When  will  I  pray  ? '  '  Now. ' 
I  tried  it  and  got  over  it,  and  have  kept  on  by  the  help  of  God 
fifteen  years." 


66  SAM    H01JAKT. 

"  Who  are  you?" 

"I  am  the  engineer  that  runs  the  officers'  train.  When 
they  want  to  make  great  time  I  make  it,  and  they  keep  me  for 
their  train." 

Before  he  had  completed  the  story  the  bottle  had  dropped 
out  of  the  window. 

"  It  was  a  great  victory,"  said  Sam,  "  and  it  came  because 
the  man  was  utterly  fearless  in  standing  by  what  he  believed. 
He  told  the  truth  in  regard  to  what  was  in  that  bottle.  There 
was  not  only  misery  and  poverty  in  it,  but  he  was  right  when 
he  said  there  might  be  murder  in  it." 

"  Then  he  described  a  man  whom  he  knew  well  and  had  just 
come  from  helping.  He  came  home,  sober  and  in  his  right 
mind.  A  neighbor  came  and  invited  him  to  take  a  walk.  He 
had  formerly  drank,  but  for  some  time  had  been  an  abstainer. 
His  neighbor  insisted  that  he  should  take  a  single  glass  of  ale. 
He  did  so.  The  appetite  was  roused  within  him.  In  a 
moment  it  flamed  up  and  swept  him  away  from  his  moorings. 
He  suddenly  asked  for  whiskey.  His  friend  remonstrated.  It 
was  too  late.  He  claimed  that  he  was  his  own  master.  He 
drank  it.  He  called  for  more.  His  friend  saw  that  he  had 
cut  loose,  and  naturally  became  alarmed.  He  tried  to  get  him 
home.  He  might  as  well  have  tried  his  hand  on  an  infuriated 
tiger  as  upon  this  madman.  He  grew  more  and  more  furious. 
At  last  his  friend  became  his  enemy,  and  he  tried  to  kill  him. 
He  was  arrested,  thrown  into  prison,  and  the  next  morning  the 
friend  took  the  blame  upon  himself,  and  asked  that  his  friend 
be  discharged.  It  was  done.  But  the  injury  went  on.  The 
appetite  demanded  more,  and  I  have  just  come  from  his  house, 
where  he  is  raving  with  delirium  tremens  ;  and  it  ail  finds  its 
origin  in  that  glass  of  ale." 

Then  he  expressed  his  mind  very  freely  in  regard  to  those 
temperance  lecturers  who  are  ever  seeking  to  make  a  plaything 
of  drunkenness  and  a  sport  of  the  drunkard.  He  could  not 
bear  it.  He  believed  that  drinking  was  a  crime  as  well  as  a 
disease.  Men  knew  that  when  they  tampered  with  strong  drink 


SAM'S  TACT   IN   PREACHING   TEMPERANCE.  67 

they  surrendered  to  something  stronger  than  themselves,  and 
which  was  only  bent  upon  their  destruction.  The  engineer 
was  very  radical  in  his  views  on  this  subject. 

He  opposed  the  use  of  tobacco  because  it  leads  to  temptation. 
It  was  amusing  to  see  him  call  up  a  fireman  or  brakeman  and 
argue  against  the  habit.  They  would  claim  it  kept  them  from 
strong  drink  because  when  asked  to  indulge  they  could  take  a 
cigar  instead  of  beer  or  whiskey.  "  Yes,"  he  would  say, 
"  but  why  tamper  with  appetite  ?  To  acquire  the  habit  a 
deathly  nausea  must  be  overcome,  and  when  the  victory  is  won 
it  reduces  the  strength,  beclouds  the  intellect,  stunts  the  growth, 
and  renders  men  brutal  in  their  habits.  No  one  can  enter  a 
srnoking-car  without  feeling  that  men  degrade  themselves  by 
the  use  of  tobacco  almost  as  much  as  by  the  use  of  strong 
drink.  They  purchase  cigars  in  saloons  where  liquors  are 
sold,  and  very  often  a  man  who  goes  in  to  purchase  a  cigar  is 
induced  to  drink  before  he  comes  out.  The  fact  that  a  man 
enters  such  a  place  is  damaging  to  him. 

"  Besides,  a  man  cannot  ask  God's  blessing  upon  this  self-in- 
flicted curse.  If  he  has  ever  used  intoxicating  beverages  the  very 
sight  of  the  decanters,  the  smell  of  the  liquors,  become  an  over- 
mastering tempation,  and  he  falls,  perhaps  not  to  rise  again." 

Sam  knew  that  when,  in  Tremont  Temple,  a  plea  was  made 
against  liquor  and  tobacco,  men  have  come  forward  and  given 
up  tobacco  which  would  fill  a  peck  measure.  They  would 
sign  the  pledge  and  agree  to  abstain  from  the  use  of  all  intoxi- 
cants, opium,  and  tobacco.  As  a  rule  the  men  who  went  back 
to  tobacco  went  back  to  rum.  They  who  kept  the  appetite  for 
tobacco  under  were  masters  of  the  situation. 

Tobacco,  previous  to  his  conversion,  was  his  solace,  and  the 
pipe  his  companion.  To  the  use  of  tobacco  he  charged  the 
violation  of  the  command  which  reads,  "Thou  shalt  not  take 
the  name  of  the  Lord  thy  God  in  vain  ;  for  the  Lord  will  not 
hold  him  guiltless  that  taketh  His  name  in  vain."  He  be- 
lieved that  if  railroad  men  would  give  up  tobacco  they  would, 
as  a  rule,  abandon  profanity.  They  congregate  together, 


68  SAM    HOBART. 

smoke,  tell  stories,  and  indulge  in  the  use  of  language  which 
destroys  their  influence  and  dwarfs  their  powers.  He  joined 
the  Temperance  Society  of  Tremont  Temple,  whose  pledge 
was  : 

"  For  the  sake  of  God  and  humanity  we  promise  to  abstain 
from  the  use  of  intoxicating  liquors,  opium,  and  tobacco. " 

Hundreds  took  this  pledgeat  various  times  and  broke  it,  but 
Sam  kept  it.  When  he  gave  up  tobacco,  lie  gave  it  up.  No 
one  ever  saw  him  petting  his  sin  or  tampering  with  it  after- 
ward. He  broke  off  all  connection  with  it  and  fought  it  as  an 
enemy.  It  was  his  theory  that  the  use  of  tobacco  is  the  first 
step  in  the  ruin  of  uncounted  numbers  of  the  youth  of  the  land. 
Tobacco  he  regarded  as  an  abomination  and  next  to  rum.  He 
delighted  to  relate  how  his  pastor  gave  it  up  because  of  his 
influence,  so  that  he  could  say  with  Paul,  "  Be  ye  followers  of 
me,  even  as  I  am  of  Christ. "  He  traced  the  downfall  of  many 
a  minister  to  the  inordinate  love  of  tobacco,  which  awakened 
an  appetite  that  made  a  demand  for  beer  or  wine  for  the  clergy, 
and  beer  and  whiskey  for  the  working-man.  It  was  a  source 
of  gladness  that  in  Tremont  Temple,  when  the  floor  under  the 
regime  of  a  minister  who  used  tobacco  was  a  disgrace,  because 
of  the  influence  of  his  pastor,  became  clean,  and  the  church  in 
which  were  members  whose  example  favored  the  use  of  the 
stimulant,  as  a  rule  became  abstainers  and  put  their  shoulders 
to  the  wheel  of  the  car  of  prohibition  and  became  a  power  in 
the  cause  of  temperance.  The  popular  pastor  of  a  neighboring 
church  used  the  weed.  Sam  loved  the  man.  He  often  had 
him  ride  with  him  on  his  locomotive  that  he  might  talk  to  the 
man  who  preached  to  an  immense  multitude  on  Sabbath  and 
lectured  to  vast  numbers  in  the  cities  and  towns  of  New  Eng- 
land during  the  week.  The  fact  that  he  unblushingly  entered 
the  smoking  car,  lit  a  cigar  ;  that  he  would  sit  around  stables 
and  talk  and  smoke  with  horsemen,  hurt  Sam.  He  told  him 
so.  He  said,  u  I  have  no  need  for  your  preaching  until  you 
illustrate  in  your  life  the  gospel  of  my  Master." 
"  Plain  talk,  Sam." 


SAM'S   TACT    IN    PREACHING    TEMPERANCE.  69 

"  Ah,  sir,  if  you  knew  the  injury  your  example  is  doing, 
and  that  thousands  are  forgetting  your  words  and  are  putting 
their  feet  in  the  tracks  you  make  in  the  broad  road  to  death, 
you  would  feel  that  what  I  have  said  is  true.  M^n  follow  what 
you  do,  not  what  you  say. ' ' 

The  warning  was  unheeded,  but  the  subsequent  history  of 
the  man  shows  how  much  it  was  needed.  He  lost  his  place  in 
the  church,  went  to  a  hall,  drew  a  motley  crowd  of  pleasure- 
seekers  about  him,  held  them  for  a  time,  and  then  broke  away 
from  all  restraints  of  the  Gospel  and  went  into  exile  ;  where  he 
remains,  unhonored  of  men,  and  lost  to  usefulness. 

Sam  lived  the  Gospel  of  Christ.  On  one  occasion,  when  in 
Vermont,  he  was  welcomed  by  a  minister  whose  mouth  was  full 
of  tobacco. 

"  Glad  to  see  you,  Mr.  Hobart.  There  is  great  need  of  a 
movement  in  favor  of  temperance  up  here. " 

Sam  eyed  him,  saw  him  expectorating  tobacco  juice,  and  in 
a  polite  and  quiet  way  walked  on.  At  night  he  was  to  speak. 
The  house  was  crowded.  The  minister  presided.  Sam  told 
this  story  : 

"  My  pastor  was  up  in  the  northern  part  of  New  York  to 
speak  on  temperance.  A  minister  of  great  prominence  wel- 
comed him.  The  minister  was  an  inveterate  user  of  tobacco. 
My  pastor  gave  up  tobacco  to  save  a  son  of  a  deacon  from  mak- 
ing him  an  excuse  for  intemperance.  He  has  fought 
tobacco  as  relentlessly  as  he  fights  rum,  because  by  striking 
tobacco  he  hits  the  idol  of  vast  numbers  in  the  church." 

The  minister  who  was  by  his  side  began  to  move  uneasily. 
His  mouth  was  full  of  tobacco  and  he  could  not  expectorate 
without  drawing  attention  to  himself.  Sam  went  on  : 

"  My  pastor  told  this  story  :  A  man  given  up  to  strong 
drink,  who  was  bringing  ruin  upon  his  family,  was  remonstrated 
with  by  a  man  who  used  tobacco.  He  said  : 

"  '  Neighbor,  1  have  come  to  see  you.  All  the  neighbors 
are  worried  about  you/ 

"  *  Why  ?  ' 


70  SAM   HOB  ART. 

"  4  Because  you  are  drinking  up  health,  property,  and  hap- 
piness/ 

44  *  I  am  no  worse  than  you/ 

*4  *  Than  me  ;  what  do  you  mean  ?  9 

44  *  Simply  this.  You  use  tobacco  and  I  use  rum.  Your 
wife  knows  that  you  dirty  your  house  more  than  I  do  mine  ; 
and  when  they  ask  you  to  give  up  tobacco  you  say  it  is  neces- 
sary to  you.  That  is  what  I  say  about  rum. ' 

44  The  man  went  home  under  conviction.  He  called  to  his 
wife  and  inquired  : 

"  4  Have  you  been  telling  of  my  filthy  habit  ?  ' 

44  *  Certainly  ;  I  was  telling  the  wife  of  our  neighbor  who 
drinks  not  to  think  she  had  all  the  trials  ;  that  I  had  mine,  and 
that  I  thought  the  use  of  tobacco  was  worse  for  the  house  than 
drinking,  but  not  so  bad  for  the  man.  Look  at  that  spittoon. 
Think  how  our  clothes  are  scented  by  the  fumes  of  tobacco. 
You  don't  get  crazy  from  the  use  of  the  weed,  but  go  without 
it  and  you  act  like  a  fool  or  a  madman,  and  it  must  be  had.' 

44  4  Wife,  you  are  right.     Bring  my  box  and  pipes.' 

44  She  brought  them.  He  worked  at  the  lire  diligently  while 
she  was  away,  and  when  she  came  he  had  got  up  a  good  blaze. 
Taking  the  box  of  tobacco  and  pipes  he  threw  them  on,  and 
while  his  idols  were  burning  he  asked  his  wife's  pardon  for 
having  been  so  oblivious  to  the  comfort  and  neatness  of  his 
home.  The  next  morning  he  called  again  upon  his  neighbor. 

44  4  Good-morning,  my  friend.' 

44  *  Good-morning.' 

44  4  I  have  come  to  talk  to  you  about  your  peril  because  of 
the  use  of  strong  drink.  Its  effects  are  telling  on  you.' 

44  l  No  worse  than  yours.' 

44  'Why?' 

44  4  You  use  tobacco  and  I  use  rum.  Yours  is  as  much  an 
appetite  as  mine,  and  I  think  quite  as  disgusting.' 

44  4  You  are  mistaken,  neighbor.' 

44  4  In  what?' 

*4  4  I  don't  use  tobacco.' 


SAM?S   TACT   IN    PREACHING   TEMPERANCE.  71 

"  '  Since  when  ?  ' 

"  '  Since  yesterday.  I  gave  up  the  practice  that  I  might 
have  power  with  you.  Now,  neighbor,  let  us  both  be  clean.7 

"  'Agreed/ 

"  The  men  signed  the  pledge  and  kept  it,  and  the  minister 
who  had  greeted  my  pastor  so  warmly  felt  the  rebuke  and  be- 
came a  champion  of  cleanliness  which  is  next  to  godliness." 

"  Hold  up,  Mr.  Hobart.  I  am  converted,"  said  the  minis- 
ter in  the  desk  with  Sam.  "  Henceforth  I  will  be  free." 

He  gave  up  tobacco  and  his  influence  has  been  ever  since  of 
the  most  salutary  character  in  Vermont.  His  signature  was  the 
beginning  not  only  of  a  temperance  revival  which  opened  the 
eyes  of  many  Christians  to  the  evils  of  tobacco,  but  led  great 
numbers  to  believe  in  a  Christianity  that  demands  a  clean  body 
as  well  as  a  soul  washed  and  made  white  in  the  blood  of  the 
Lamb. 

Neal  Dow  describes  an  interview  with  a  tobacco-smoker,  and 
he  pictures  this  scene  : 

"  Suppose  that  I  begin  the  practice.  My  lips  are  livid,  my 
face  is  pale,  the  anguish  of  a  most  painful  death  agony  comes 
upon  me.  You  are  standing  by  and  encouraging  me,  and  doing 
your  best  to  keep  my  courage  up.  You  speak  of  the  rewards 
sure  to  come.  An  appetite  that  is  injurious,  health-ruining, 
and  beauty-blighting."  The  man  laughed  at  the  ridiculousness 
of  the  position,  yet  thousands  by  their  example  are  leading 
millions  astray.  God  purposes  to  bear  us  triumphantly  over 
temptation  and  not  sink  down  into  it,  and  the  slavery  to 
tobacco  with  many  is  but  a  prelude  to  the  rule  of  strong  drink. 

In  speaking  of  this,  Sam  said:  * '  Christ,  who  associates  us 
with  Himself  in  the  words  4  Lead  us  not  into  temptation,' 
understood  the  full  force  of  its  meaning.  We  do  not  ;  we 
cannot.  With  God's  clear  vision — which  ranges  through  the 
infinitudes  of  measureless  space,  which  looks  down  upon  the 
heights  of  heavenly  fruition  and  up  through  all  grades  and 
classifications  of  untold  and  hellish  misery — Christ  saw  tempta- 
tion in  its  fierceness,  in  its  malignity,  and  in  its  ubiquity.  He 


72  SAM    HOB  ART. 

believed  that  the  prayer  implied  peril.  He  knew  that  perils 
existed  for  railroad  men  to  an  extent  that  few  appreciate. 

Temptations  are  within  and  without.  They  come  from  the 
lusts  of  the  flesh  and  the  lusts  of  the  spirit.  Every  individual 
is  exposed  to  peculiar  temptations.  The  smoking-room  is. 
made  foul  in  many  ways.  As  a  rule  those  who  frequent  it  are 
impure.  Their  conversation  reveals  it.  Hence  Sam  would 
advise  the  young  men  to  rest  with  a  book  instead  of  with  a 
pipe.  Such  a  statement  as  this  concerning  a  State  Inebriate 
Asylum  impressed  him.  Since  its  establishment  39  ministers, 
8  judges,  40  merchants,  226  physicians,  240  gentlemen,  and 
1300  women  have  been  ministered  unto,  and  without  exception 
all  trace  their  fall  to  the  yielding  to  temptation. 

To  Sam  there  was  significance  in  the  supposition  that  the 
word  "lead"  should  be  translated  into  "leave."  "  Leave 
me  not  in  temptation"  is  a  prayer  which  many  young  men 
need  to  make.  They  are  surrounded  with  the  impure  and  un- 
clean. Their  language  is  profane  and  vile.  As  has  been  said, 
after  his  conversion  he  found  his  happiness  and  chief  occupation, 
when  away  from  his  place  of  business,  in  seeking  to  comfort 
the  afflicted  and  the  distressed,  and  save  the  lost.  He  had  for 
many  years  a  passion  for  souls.  He  sought  to  save  drunkards 
and  sinners  of  every  class  through  Christ.  He  believed  in  the 
blood  that  washes  sins  away.  At  the  noontime  hour,  in  the 
daily  prayer-meeting  at  Worcester,  at  eventime  when  laborers 
were  going  home,  he  was  ever  on  the  alert  for  the  lost  and 
undone,  and  in  the  morning  at  the  opening  of  the  day  he  was 
known  to  go  to  men  and  give  them  a  good  start  by  a  word  of 
encouragement  and  an  assurance  that  he  should  be  around  to 
see  how  they  got  on.  He  was  instant,  in  season  and  out  of 
season,  striving  to  save  men. 

Though  a  locomotive  engineer  he  was  more  than  that  in  the 
estimation  of  every  one.  Christ  was  added  to  the  man.  The 
people  saw  it  and  were  glad.  The  head  of  the  freight  depart- 
ment, the  superintendent  of  the  shipping  department,  the  men 
of  position  and  the  men  of  toil  alike,  recognized  his  worth,  and 


SAM'S   TACT    IX    PREACHING   TEMPERAXCE.  73 

paid  him  that  respect  which  is  born  of  merit  and  esteem.  He 
.was  not  a  politician  and  cared  nothing  for  ward  caucuses. 

He  was  a  Mason.  He  attained  distinction  in  the  order,  but 
after  his  conversion  he  gave  his  heart  to  other  service,  and 
without  doing  anything  against  the  order  which  once  claimed 
his  affections,  he  told  those  who  came  to  him  that  he  found 
more  complete  satisfaction  in  Christ  and  in  the  church. 

He  was  a  reformer.  He  was1  a  natural  enthusiast  in  what- 
ever he  gave  his  heart  to,  and  he  gave  his  heart  to  advocating 
temperance.  He  had  a  fondness  for  personal  visitation.  Like 
Thomas  Guthrie,  D.D.,  he  was  fitted  to  get  the  best  out  of  bad 
men.  He  knew  that  they  had  a  good  side,  and  how  to  reach  it. 
One  morning  he  met  a  man  who  had  once  been  the  owner  of 
several  carts  and  wagons,  and  who  had  hauled  vast  amounts  of 
freight ;  but  had  lost  nearly  all  through  drink.  Sam  had  been 
in  his  house,  helped  the  family,  and  provoked  by  his  kindness 
the  wrath  of  the  drayman.  The  threat  had  been  made  that  if 
he  met  Sam  Hobart  he  would  "  hammer"  him.  The  engineer 
saw  his  man  coming  toward  him  in  the  early  morn.  The  dray- 
man was  cross  and  nervous.  The  engineer  was  kind  and  calm. 

"  Good-morning,"  said  Sam  ;  and  he  stretched  out  his  hand. 

"  You  were  in  my  house  ?"  said  the  drayman. 

"  I  was,  and  a  sorry  house  I  found  it.  Come,  stop  drink 
and  build  up.  You  have  poured  horses  and  carts  enough  down 
your  throat  ;  by  sobriety  and  industry  get  them  back  and 
rebuild  your  home." 

The  words,  so  full  of  the  inspirations  of  hope,  touched  the 
heart  of  the  man.  He  asked  him  to  forgive  him  for  his  rude- 
ness; he  told  him  his  troubles  and  wet  the  sidewalk  with  his  tears. 
Sam  encouraged  him,  got  him  reinstated  as  a  drayman,  watched 
over  him,  and  had  the  pleasure  before  he  died  of  seeing  him 
thrifty  and  prosperous  once  more.  It  was  the  most  lovable  feat- 
ure in  his  character  that  he  knew  how  to  appreciate  that  which 
was  praiseworthy  in  others,  even  if  by  praising  the  faulty  he 
revealed  his  own  lack.  His  exceeding  gentleness,  his  patience, 
his  consciousness  of  the  difference  between  womanly  weakness 


74  SAM    HOB  ART. 

and  manly  strength,  must  have  made  him  a  very  lovable  man, 
the  memory  of  whose  kind  actions  forms  a  legacy  of  priceless 
value.  Once  in  our  house,  I  remember  that  he  called  with  his 
wife  and  found  the  house  full  of  company.  They  were  urged 
to  lay  aside  their  wraps.  But  the  wife  saw  that  they  were  not 
dressed  as  she  felt  they  should  be,  so  expressed  a  desire  to  go 
home.  The  objection  was  brushed  away  in  his  mind,  but  not 
in  hers.  Never  will  I  forget  how  delicately  he  approached  her 
and  said,  "  I  think  you  look  very  nicely  ;  plenty  well  enough  ; 
but  if  you  feel  uncomfortable,  we  will  go  home."  Her  an- 
swering look  of  gratitude  is  in  my  mind's  eye  now,  and  soon 
she  laid  aside  her  objections  and  they  both  enjoyed  the  even- 
ing. There  was  a  man,  some  might  call  a  rough  mechanic — one 
who  could  breast  any  storm  or  dare  any  danger  or  endure  any 
hardness — as  pliant,  as  thoughtful,  and  as  yielding  to  this  loving 
wife  as  it  was  possible  for  a  young  lover  to  be  in  the  first  flush 
of  boyish  excitement. 

This  was  the  man  in  action.  It  will  repay  us  to  go  with 
him  into  the  new  life  opening  to  him.  Religion  joined  the 
different  parts  of  this  strong  nature  ;  the  stone  which  he  had 
rejected  became  the  head  of  the  corner,  and  made  him  a  work- 
ing force  for  God  among  men. 


CHAPTER    VII. 

SAM    AT   WORK    FOR    GOD. 

SAUL  of  Tarsus  was  a  leader  in  the  ranks  of  sin  and  Satan. 
Converted  to  Christ,  Paul  the  apostle  became  a  leader  in  the 
work  of  saving  men.  The  lion  in  the  ranks  of  the  ungodly 
did  not  become  a  lamb.  He  remained  a  lion,  only  he  changed 
sides.  The  power,  the  courage,  the  push  he  put  into  the  ser- 
vice of  Satan  he  gave  to  Christ.  In  Jerusalem,  in  Antioch,  in 
Rome,  in  Athens — everywhere  he  was  a  stalwart  for  God. 

Sam  Hobart  was  like  Saul  of  Tarsus  in  the  world,  and,  when 
converted,  Paul  himself  was  not  more  resolute,  more  self-deny- 
ing, more  indomitable  in  purpose  than  was  this  railroad 
engineer.  He  began  doing  the  work  next  to  him.  At  that 
time  it  was  not  fashionable  to  profess  Christ  on  railroads. 

Sam  was  converted  in  1867.  He  joined  the  church  in  1869. 
He  got  to  work  as  soon  as  he  could.  But  his  way  was  hedged 
up.  Well  do  I  remember  his  doming  to  me  and  saying,  "  I 
can't  do  anything  with  railroad  men  in  the  church.  They  are 
not  wanted. "  I  replied,  "You  are  mistaken.  We  all  want 
you.  We  know  what  you  are  worth — what  religion  will  do 
for  you  and  what  you  can  do  for  religion. M  He  smiled  that 
incredulous  smile  and  said,  "  The  railroad  men  understand  it." 
I  said,  "  Bring  them  to  the  Temple,  and  we  will  welcome  you 
with  enthusiasm."  Sam  said,  "  I  will  try  you."  Soon  he 
came.  About  sixty  men  followed  him  one  night  into  the  Mei- 
onian.  I  heard  their  soldier-like  tramp  as  they  came  down  the 
hall.  Soon  the  face  of  Sam  Hobart  was  seen  in  the  door.  The 
engineer  with  a  door  for  the  frame  made  a  picture  never  to  be 
forgotten.  I  was  in  the  midst  of  the  sermon.  I  stopped  and 


76  SAM    HOBART. 

said:  "  Come  on,  Mr.  Hobart."  He  gave  the  invitation, 
"  Come  on."  I  asked  that  the  front  seats  be  cleared  of  people 
and  given  up  to  the  railroad  men.  In  they  came.  Some  with 
their  hats  on,  some  with  them  off.  They  filled  up  the  seats. 
I  said  : 

"  Well,  Mr.  Hobart,  what  is  your  desire  ?" 

"  That  you  should  pray  with  these  men." 

"  Kneel  down  then,"  was  rny  request. 

"  Kneel,"  said  Sam. 

Down  they  went  like  soldiers.  Some  of  them  had  still  their 
hats  on.  Sam  shouted  : 

"  Take  off  your  hats.  Don't  you  know  enough  to  take  your 
hats  off  before  God  ?" 

Off  came  their  hats.     All  bent  their  heads  in  prayer. 

"  Pray,  Brother  Hobart, "  was  my  request.  He  prayed.  And 
what  a  prayer  !  He  was  at  home  at  last.  The  entire  congre- 
gation had  bowed  with  him.  Sam  pleaded  like  a  mother  for  a 
child.  His  soul  was  melted  into  exceeding  tenderness.  Tears 
ran  down  his  cheeks.  He  told  of  the  men,  of  their  struggles, 
of  what  religion  had  done  for  him,  of  what  it  would  do  for  all. 

Others  followed.  Then,  when  we  arose,  after  a  few  remarks 
explaining  the  way  to  take  Christ  for  help,  for  victory,  for 
restraint,  for  guidance,  we  had  testimonies,  and  some  wonderful 
conversions  followed.  This  opened  Sam's  eyes.  He  believed 
in  a  free  church  for  the  people,  and  despite  of  all  that  could  be 
said,  he  joined  it.  It  was  up-hill  work  in  Boston.  It  is  fash- 
ionable to  believe  in  morality,  but  not  in  Christianity.  The 
faith  in  temperance  was  great,  but  not  in  much  besides.  Sam 
saw  men  being  mowed  down  in  great  swaths  by  ungovernable 
appetites,  and  believing  that  nothing  apart  from  faith  in  Christ 
and  the  help  resulting  therefrom  could  save  them,  he  contended 
with  all  his  might  for  the  reception  of  Christ  into  the  heart, 
that  they  might  obtain  the  power  to  put  temptation  and  appe- 
tite and  inclination  down. 

It  is  said  that  the  Ohio  finds  its  origin  in  a  fountain  among 
the  Alleghenies,  so  small  that  an  ox  can  drain  it  at  a  draught. 


SAM    AT    WORK    FOR    GOD.  77 

May  it  not  be  true  that  the  mighty  movement  among  railroad 
men  found  its  origin  in  the  prayers  of  Sam  Hobart  ?  The  Bos- 
ton and  Albany  road  had  a  library  and  reading-room  for  men. 
There  was  no  Christ  in  it,  and  no  room  for  Christ.  Sam  be- 
lieved in  a  personal  God  for  the  person  of  a  man.  He  said  it. 
At  times  he  would  picture  the  needs  of  the  men  about  him  and 
the  difficulty  of  reaching  them. 

Now  all  is  changed.  Then  all  was  deadness.  Sailors  had 
chaplains  on  men-of-war,  and  Bethel  stations  and  chaplains  on 
shore  for  the  men  of  the  sea.  But  railroad  men  as  a  class  might 
say,  "  I  looked  on  the  right  hand  and  on  the  left,  and  behold, 
but  there  was  no  man  that  would  know  me  ;  refuge  failed  me  ; 
no  man  cared  for  my  soul." 

M.  R.  Davenport,  of  Erie,  Pa.,  in  speaking  of  this  time, 
said  :  "  I  remember  well  being  at  a  convention  of  Young  Men's 
Christian  Associations  in  a  town  I  will  not  name,  where  we 
wished  to  hold  an  open-air  service  for  railroad  men.  There 
was  one  place  in  the  town  well  adapted  for  the  purpose — an 
open  platform  covered  by  a  roof,  a  place  used  for  a  railroad 
passenger  depot.  A  request  was  made  for  it.  No  man  on 
the  road  dared  grant  it.  They  did  not  want  it  noised  abroad 
that  they  had  refused  to  grant  it.  I  think  they  would  have 
responded  favorably  to  an  organ-grinder,  but  they  refused  us." 

That  town  was  no  exception.     Christ  was  ruled  out. 

Sam's  conversion  meant  that  Christ  had  gained  admission  to 
the  ranks.  He  pleaded  the  cause  of  his  fellow-men. 

Methinks  I  hear  him  now,  almost  in  the  words  which  O.  R. 
Stockwell,  of  the  Railroad  Branch  of  the  Young  Men's  Christian 
Association  of  the  City  of  New  York,  used  in  London  in  1881, 
when,  in  answering  the  question  why  we  should  be  interested  in 
railroad  men,  he  said  : 

"  A  large  proportion  are  young  men,  many  from  homes 
where  they  have  been  taught  the  Word  of  God  ;  not  a  few  of 
them  have  Christian  parents,  and  large  numbers  are  graduates 
from  Sunday-schools.  We  only  see  the  external  of  the  man  as 
we  are  brought  into  contact  with  him  ;  the  very  nature  of  his 


78  SAM    HOBAKT. 

work,  always  exacting,  often  exasperating,  leads  to  profanity, 
and  the  work  he  must  of  necessity  perform  on  the  Lord's  day 
in  a  very  short  period  tends  to  a  disregard  of  that  day  we  are 
commanded  "  to  keep  holy.7  ' 

Satan's  agents  are  at  work  all  along  their  lines  of  travel, 
seeking  to  throw  them  from  the  straight  and  narrow  way.  It 
is  the  influence  of  his  surroundings  that  has  a  tendency  to  lead 
him  downward.  He  is  almost  entirely  isolated  by  his  circum- 
stances from  elevating  influences.  I  have  found,  from  an  associ- 
ation of  over  fifteen  years  with  this  class  of  men,  that  they  are 
superior  in  judgment  and  common-sense.  Their  mode  of  life 
is  a  training-school  ;  they  are  men  of  quick  perceptions,  reach 
conclusions  very  readily,  and  when  fully  convinced  what  is  the 
right  step,  generally  take  it  ;  conscientious  many  times  to  a 
fault,  yet  they  appear  hardened  to  almost  every  one  but  the 
close  observer.  One  reason  of  this  is,  they  feel  that  their  ser- 
vices are  not  appreciated  by  the  public.  They  very  seldom 
receive  any  recognition  for  their  faithfulness.  It  is  not  every 
man  who  is  willing  to  make  the  sacrifices  that  many  of  these 
employes  do.  And  we  are  but  poorly  paying  a  debt  of  grati- 
tude when  we  attempt  to  do  anything  that  contributes  to  their 
welfare  and  happiness.  It  is  only  within  the  past  few  years 
that  the  attention  of  the  associations  of  the  United  States  has 
been  turned  in  this  direction,  little  realizing  the  great  magnitude 
of  their  work  and  the  large  number  of  employes.  Nearly  one 
fortieth  of  the  population  of  the  United  States  are  employes  of 
the  railroad  corporations,  and  there  are  very  few  towns  or  cities 
without  representatives  from  this  class.  The  effort  to  provide 
a  moral  and  social  influence  among  them  is  not  a  new  thing. 
In  1854  Messrs.  Peto,  Betts  &  Brossy,  the  contractors  of  the 
Victoria  Bridge,  opened  a  reading-room  for  their  employes  at 
Point  St.  Charles,  Montreal,  Canada,  believing  that  the  char- 
acter and  service  of  their  men  would  be  improved  if  this  pro- 
vision was  made  for  their  leisure  hours.  Other  rooms  were 
opened.  But  the  project  languished  for  want  of  adequate  care. 
In  1872,  in  Cleveland,  Ohio,  a  movement  was  made  by  the 


SAM   AT   WORK    FOR   GOD.  79 

Young  Men's  Christian  Association  for  railroad  men.  Mr.  R. 
F.  Smith,  Assistant  General  Manager  of  the  Pennsylvania  Rail- 
road Company,  in  a  letter  commends  the  movement,  and  says  it 
was  the  first  room  of  the  kind  opened  where  the  religious 
element  was  introduced.  And  herein  was  the  hiding  of  its 
power.  The  General  Superintendent  of  the  New  York  Central 
and  Hudson  River  Railroad,  at  a  reception  given  to  Mr.  Charles 
Fermond  during  his  visit  ^to  the  United  States,  said  in  1879, 
"  Fifteen  years  ago  it  was  a  common  thing  to  see  railroad  em- 
ployes go  out  upon  their  trains  under  the  influence  of  liquor, 
and  profanity  was  characteristic  of  railroad  men."  It  was 
at  this  time  Sam  established  in  Worcester  a  daily  prayer- 
meeting  for  railroad  men.  It  is  believed  to  be  the  first.  He 
and  those  with  him  called  on  God  in  faith.  Special  subjects  of 
prayer  were  brought  before  them. 

An  instance  is  before  me.  Sam  came  and  said  :  "  I  want 
you  to  go  with  me  and  see  an  official  on  one  of  our  railroads. 
He  is  drinking  fearfully.  He  is  on  my  heart.  We  are  pray- 
ing for  him.  But  I  cannot  go  alone.  You  know  the  Master 
sent  his  disciples  out  two  by  two.  I  want  eome  one  with  me 
for  this  job."  I  went  to  the  office,  and  saw  the  head  man  in 
liquor.  His  brain  was  not  seemingly  affected,  but  his  counte- 
nance showed  dissipation.  As  we  entered,  the  man  in  a  gruff 
voice  said,  u  Well,  Sam,  what  is  wanted  ?" 

"  Just  a  moment  of  your  time/'  said  Sam,  with  a  face  full 
of  suppressed  emotion. 

The  man  came  out  from  behind  the  desk  and  said,  '*'  Well  ?" 

"  Permit  me  to  introduce  you  to  my  pastor  ;  we  have  come 
to  see  you  on  a  very  important  matter." 

Turning  to  me  he  said,  "  Well,  sir,  what  is  wanted  ?" 

I  replied,  "  Sir,  my  friend  Mr.  Hobart  has  teen  greatly 
troubled  because  of  your  intemperance.  He  feels  that  you 
stand  on  the  verge  of  ruin,  soul  and  body.  He  has  tried  to 
speak  to  you  and  failed,  and  has  asked  me  to  come  and  say  a 
word  in  the  name  of  our  common  Master." 

The  man  looked  dumbfounded  for  a  moment,  and  turning  to 


80  SAM   HOB  ART. 

Sam  said,  "  Good  friend,  I  am  obliged  to  you.  If  ever  a  man 
needed  prayer,  it  is  me.  Appetite  has  me  in  its  grasp,  and  I 
seem  unable  to  master  it." 

"  You  can't  hope  to  do  it  in  your  own  strength,  and  so  we 
have  been  praying  that  you  might  turn  to  the  great  Helper,  our 
Lord  and  Saviour  Jesus  Christ, "  said  Sam. 

"  What  do  you  want  me  to  do  ?" 

"  Sign  this  pledge,  and  rest  in  God  for  help." 

"  I  will  doit." 

He  signed  the  pledge,  and  had  help  of  God,  and  won  the 
victory.  It  was  the  beginning  of  a  movement  among  officials 
and  among  the  men. 

The  work  begun  by  Sam  alone  was  taken  up  by  the  Young 
Men's  Christian  Associations,  first  in  Cleveland  and  afterward  in 
different  portions  of  the  country,  until  the  seedling  planted  in 
faith  has  grown  into  the  banyan-tree  of  hope,  and  at  this  hour 
thousands  gather  beneath  the  sheltering  shade  of  blessed  and 
immortal  hope. 

Sam's  prescience  was  wonderful.  He  believed  that  Christian 
railroad  men  must  carry  the  interests  of  railroad  men  in  their 
hearts.  He  claimed  that  the  officials  of  the  railroad  lines  ought 
to  take  an  interest  in  their  operatives.  While  it  is  wise  to 
house  locomotives,  it  is  unwise  to  leave  the  men  who  run  them 
out  in  the  cold,  cold  world,  to  go  to  places  of  vice  such  as  curse 
every  large  city. 

He  saw  that  there  were  two  classes  of  men  who  are  weak  and 
little  :  one  is  weak  and  little  by  nature,  consisting  of  such  as 
are  born  with  feeble  powers,  not  strongly  capable  of  self-help  ; 
the  other  is  little  by  position,  comprising  men  that  are  perma- 
nently poor  and  ignorant,  and  it  was  his  belief,  even  before  he 
knew  God,  4hat  ' '  it  is  not  the  will  of  our  Father  who  is  in 
heaven  that  one  of  these  little  ones  should  perish."  Hence  he 
was  a  philanthropist  before  he  was  a  Christian.  He  saw  and 
felt  that  in  a  society  wherein  there  is  a  preference  for  the 
mighty,  where  power  is  worshipped,  where  selfishness  has  such 
room  to  swing  in,  trampling  upon  the  good  if  they  be  weak, 


SAM   AT   WORK   FOE   GOD.  81 

and  helping  the  bad  if  they  be  strong  ;  where  justice  is  little 
honored  though  much  talked  of,  it  comes  to  pass  that  a  great 
many  little  ones  from  both  these  classes  actually  perish.  Theo- 
dore Parker  expressed  his  mind  when  he  said,  "  You  go  to  our 
churches  ;  the  poor  are  not  in  them,  they  are  idling  and  loung- 
ing away  their  day  of  rest  like  the  horse  and  the  ox."  This 
class  of  men  are  perishing — yes,  perishing  in  the  nineteenth 
century — perishing  soul  and  body,  contrary  to  God's  will,  and 
perishing  all  the  worse  because  they  die  slow  and  corrupt  by 
inches.  Many  of  our  houses  of  public  worship  would  be  well 
named  il  churches  for  the  affluent."  Yet  religion  is  more  to 
the  poor  man  than  to  the  rich.  What  wonder,  then,  if  the  poor 
lose  self-respect  when  driven  from  the  only  churches  where  it 
is  thought  respectable  to  pray  ? 

"  Here  are  the  sons  of  the  poor,  vagrant  in  your  streets,  shut 
out  by  their  misery  from  the  culture  of  the  age,  growing  up  to 
fill  your  jails,  to  be  fathers  of  a  race  like  themselves,  and  to  be 
huddled  into  an  infamous  grave.  Here  are  the  daughters  of 
the  poor  cast  out  and  abandoned,  the  pariahs  of  our  civilization, 
training  up  for  a  life  of  shame  and  pollution,  and  coming  early 
to  a  miserable  end."  These  facts  were  patent  to  him.  They 
made  him  uncomfortable.  They  taught  him  that  in  the  realm 
near  him  were  unsolved  problems  which  had  to  do  with  his 
inner  life.  He  knew  that  there  was  work  waiting  for  him. 
Christianity,  like  the  eagle's  flight,  begins  at  home.  He  knew 
that  he  ought  to  be  pure  and  Christian  as  well  as  manly,  and 
be  booted  and  girded  and  road  ready  for  the  work  waiting  to 
be  done.  Such  sentiments  thrilling  along  the  lines  of  human 
thought  sought  admission  to  his  heart  and  caused  him  to  enter 
the  Masonic  lodge,  the  Workingmen's  Club,  the  Brotherhood 
of  Locomotive  Engineers,  and  whatever  other  organization  gave 
opportunity  to  proffer  a  helping  hand  to  men  that  were  down, 
and  to  find  companionship  for  his  soul  with  those  who  were 
bent  on  doing  good. 

He  loved  the  Christian  Church,  and  denied  the  premise  that 
Christian  churches  were  not  open  to  all,  and  that  Christian 


«S2  SAM    JIOBAUT. 

ministers  were  not  anxious  to  save  all.  He  pointed  to  the 
churches  he  knew,  with  their  wide  welcome,  and  to  the  ministers 
who  preached  u  Christ  the  workingman's  Friend  and  Saviour, 
the  great  Reformer  and  the  true  Conservative,  the  inspirer  of 
all  new  truths,  revealing  in  his  Bible  to  every  age  abysses  of 
new  wisdom  as  the  times  require,  and  yet  the  Vindicator  of  all 
that  is  ancient  and  eternal  ;  the  true  demagogue,  the  champion 
of  the  poor,  and  yet  as  the  true  King,  above  and  below  all 
earthly  rank  ;  on  whose  will  alone  all  real  superiority  of  man 
to  man,  all  the  time-justified  and  time-honored  usages  of  the 
family,  the  society,  the  nation  stand,  and  shall  stand,  forever. " 
He  did  not  believe  in  trying  to  do  God's  work  with  the  devil's 
tools.  With  the  friend  of  workingmen  in  England  he  could 
exclaim,  "  These  are  strange  times.  I  thought  the  devil  used 
to  befriend  tyrants  and  oppressors,  but  he  seems  to  have 
profited  by  Burns' s  advice  to  *  tak  a  thought  and  mend.'  I 
thought  the  struggling  freeman's  watchword  was,  4  God  sees  my 
wrongs.'  He  hath  taken  the  matter  into  his  own  hands.  The 
poor  committeth  himself  unto  him,  for  he  is  the  Helper  of  the 
friendless.  But  now  the  devil  seems  all  at  once  to  have  turned 
philanthropist  and  patriot,  and  to  intend  himself  to  fight  the 
good  cause,  against  which  he  has  been  fighting  ever  since 
Adam's  time.  I  don't  deny  that  it  is  much  cheaper  to  be 
reformed  by  the  devil  than  by  God,  for  God  will  only  reform 
society  on  the  condition  of  our  reforming  every  man  his  own 
self,  while  the  devil  is  quite  ready  to  help  us  to  mend  the  laws  of 
earth  and  heaven  without  ever  starting  such  an  impertinent  and 
personal  request  as  that  a  man  should  mend  himself."  Against 
the  gospel  that  demands  the  surrender  of  the  carnal  heart  he 
stood  for  years  immovable  and  in  favor  of  the  gospel  that  flat- 
tered the  human  heart  and  paid  a  premium  on  morality  and 
o-ood  works.  Now  he  knew  better. 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

THE  BROTHERHOOD  OF  LOCOMOTIVE  ENGINEERS. 

THIS  mighty  organization,  which  at  one  time  had  13,000 
engineers  on  its  roll,  was  formed  in  the  city  of  Detroit  in 
August,  1863,  as  the  Brotherhood  of  the  Footboard.  Its 
motto  is,  "  Sobriety,  Truth,  Justice,  Morality  ;"  and  its  rule, 
"  Do  unto  others  as  ye  would  that  they  should  do  unto  you, 
and  so  fulfil  the  law."  To  become  a  member,  a  person  must 
be  twenty-one  years  of  age,  must  be  able  to  read  and  write, 
and  must  be  of  good  moral  character,  temperate  in  his  habits, 
and  a  locomotive  engineer  in  good  standing.  Every  member 
must  so  conduct  himself  as  to  secure  the  confidence  and  esteem 
of  his  employers.  If  a  member  wilfully  or  maliciously  injures 
his  employer's  property,  or  defrauds  any  one,  or  engages  in  the 
traffic  of  intoxicating  liquors,  he  is  subject  to  expulsion.  The 
insurance  department  of  the  Brotherhood  has  been  very  useful. 
At  the  death  of  a  member  his  widow  or  heirs  receive  $3000. 
They  claim  to  have  paid  nearly  one  million  dollars  to  the  in- 
sured, and  disbursed  to  the  needy  out  of  their  hard  earnings 
§50,000.  "  We  have  reclaimed  the  fallen,  reformed  the 
drunkard,  and  furnished  the  public  and  railroad  companies 
with  a  better,  more  skilled,  and  trustworthy  class  of  engineers 
than  they  had  previous  to  the  inception  of  the  Brotherhood. ' ' 

This  is  the  process  of  action  taken  by  the  Brotherhood  when- 
ever a  difference  arises  between  a  company  and  its  men.  The 
men  are  instructed  first  to  exhaust  all  their  own  efforts  in  coming 
to  an  amicable  settlement  with  the  company.  Failing  in  that, 
they  send  for  the  Grand  Chief.  It  is  his  duty  then  "  to  go  and 
use  all  honorable  means  in  his  power  to  prevent  rupture  be- 
tween the  company  and  engineers."  There  is  a  committee  of 


84  SAM    HOBART. 

thirteen,  selected  u  for  known  ability  and  judgment."  If  the 
Grand  Chief  fails,  this  committee  is  convened,  and  the  matter 
laid  before  them.  If  they  by  a  two  thirds  vote  decide  that  the 
men  have  good  grounds  for  striking,  the  men  are  so  notified, 
and  that  entitles  them  to  be  sustained  by  the  whole  Brother- 
hood. 

President  Arthur,  Chief  of  the  Brotherhood  in  1877,  argued 
that  this  opportunity  for  combination  is  the  only  weapon 
engineers  have  against  the  oppression  to  which  they  would  be 
subjected  if  left  to  face  immense  corporations  only  as  individ- 
uals. He  claims  that  the  method  of  operation  is  such  that  a 
strike  will  only  occur  in  an  extreme  case,  and  he  says  he  be- 
lieves strikes  have  been  averted  by  it  on  thirteen  different  roads 
in  the  last  three  years.  He  charges  railway  managers  with 
tyrannical  and  unreasonable  conduct,  abusing  their  men,  dis- 
charging them  without  a  hearing,  etc.  As  long  as  this  over- 
bearing spirit  is  manifested,  he  says,  we  shall  have  strikes. 
"  I  would  say  to  railroad  managers,  be  honest  and  just  toward 
each  other  and  to  your  employes.  Cease  your  suicidal  policy 
of  cutting  rates,  and  submit  all  differences  that  may  arise  be- 
tween you  and  your  employes  that  you  cannot  adjust  to  a  board 
of  arbitration  composed  of  three  disinterested  men,  one  to  be 
chosen  by  each  party  and  the  two  to  select  the  third,  and  their 
decision  to  be  final.  In  my  opinion  it  is  the  only  fair  way  of 
settling  disputes  and  a  sure  prevention  of  strikes." 

In  conclusion,  after  some  references  to  the  strength  of  the 
Brotherhood,  he  says  :  "  Our  meetings  are  opened  with  prayer, 
and  the  open  Bible  upon  our  altar,  which  we  recognize  as  the 
emblem  of  our  Order,  and  upon  which  our  institution  is 
founded,  and  by  it  we  are  taught.  *  Come,  and  let  us  reason 
together.'  " 

In  1865  it  took  the  name  it  now  bears,  and  became  a  Brother- 
hood of  Locomotive  Engineers.  At  the  outset  Sam  joined  it. 
In  1865,  when  the  trouble  arose  with  the  Michigan  Southern 
and  Northern  Indiana  Railroad,  and  the  conflict  came  on  be- 
tween the  employers  arid  the  employed,  Sam,  who  through  this 


THE   BROTHERHOOD    OF   LOCOMOTIVE   ENGINEERS,       85 

organization  sought  to  elevate  the  character  of  the  class  of 
workmgmen  to  which  he  belonged,  and  not  to  interfere  with  the 
vested  rights  of  capital,  called  a  halt  and  determined  for  himself 
to  be  true  to  his  class  and  at  the  same  time  remain  faithful  to 
those  who  had  trusted  and  befriended  him.  He  kept  his  love 
for  both  classes,  and  was  alike  trusted  by  both.  In  1866  the 
Brotherhood  came  to  Boston.  They  uncovered  their  purpose. 
The  press  proclaimed  it.  The  citizens  one  and  all  indorsed  it. 
They  saw  in  it  a  movement  which,  headed  right,  would  make 
locomotive  engineers  self-respecting  and  self-sustaining,  causing 
them  to  seek  to  promote  temperate  habits  and  develop  manly 
characteristics.  To  them  as  a  class  are  intrusted  interests  im- 
measurably great.  As  General  B.  F.  Butler  said,  in  his  address 
when  he  welcomed  them  to  Lowell,  Mass.  : 

"  The  locomotive  is  the  great  precursor  and  herald  of  civili- 
zation. More  has  been  and  will  be  done  to  bring  out  the  re- 
sources of  this  country  by  the  extension  of  railroads  than  any- 
thing else. 

11  To  the  men  who  are  put  upon  the  engines,  to  whose 
fidelity,  capacity,  integrity,  sobriety,  and  coolness  the  lives  of 
more  men  are  intrusted  every  day  than  were  ever  intrusted  to 
the  commanders  of  any  army,  is  the  country  most  indebted. 
[Applause.]  It  only  requires  one  ride  on  the  engine  to  see  the  . 
necessity  for  all  those  great  qualities  in  the  men  who  control 
the  trains. 

"  It  has  been  proved  by  statistics  that  there  was  greater  loss 
of  life,  in  the  proportion  to  the  amount  of  travel,  by  the  old 
stage  coaches  than  occur  now  by  the  railroad.  There  can  be 
but  one  answer  to  that,  and  in  this  place  I  would  say  that  I 
have  just  returned  from  travelling  forty-five  hundred  miles  by 
railroad,  without  an  accident  or  shock  in  any  form,  and  there- 
fore when  I  was  told  that  you  desired  to  have  a  word  from  me 
I  felt  it  my  duty  to  come. ' ' 

Charles  Wilson,  G.C.E.,  recognized  the  support  of  the  rail- 
road officials  who  had  taken  the  time  to  investigate  the  work- 
ings of  the  institution. 


80  SAM    HOB  ART. 

"  They  have  approved  of  what  appeared  to  them  to  be  a 
guarantee  for  the  good  behavior  of  their  engineers,  and  now 
are  apparently  anxious  for  the  success  and  perpetuity  of  the 
Brotherhood.  They  desire  that  the  fact  that  an  engineer  be- 
longs to  the  Brotherhood  should  be  a  sure  recommendation 
that  he  can  fill  any  position  for  which  he  might  apply. 
Nothing  can  accomplish  this  end  so  quickly  as  the  hearty 
co-operation  of  the  railroad  officials  with  the  efforts  of  the 
Brotherhood. 

"  Let  it  be  understood  that  the  official  under  whom  you  are 
working  holds  you  strictly  accountable  for  the  good  conduct  of 
your  associates  or  fellow-employes,  and  you  will  be  very  cautious 
whom  you  admit  as  members  of  the  Brotherhood.  I  am  pleased 
to  see  that  some  divisions  take  action  in  regard  to  the  miscon- 
duct of  their  members  while  on  the  road.  I  lately  received  a 
notice  of  the  expulsion  of  a  member,  and  the  cause  assigned 
was  that  he  had  been  guilty  of  running  on  the  time  of  a  pas- 
senger train.  I  was  forcibly  impressed  with  the  justice  of  the 
decision  in  this  case,  and  I  think  all  neglect  in  the  performance 
of  duties  to  the  company  should  be  immediately  noticed  in  the 
division.  In  this  way  you  will  carry  out  your  professions,  and 
command  the  respect  of  all. 

"  The  public  have  manifested  a  great  interest  in  our  success. 
The  good  impression  your  delegates  made  in  the  city  of  Roches- 
ter during  our  last  annual  session  will  not  soon  be  forgotten  by 
its  citizens.  The  contrast  your  delegates  presented  to  a  like 
number  of  locomotive  engineers  that  could  have  been  collected 
a  few  years  since  was  apparent  to  every  one,  and  the  advantage 
of  having  such  men  to  occupy  the  responsible  position  of 
engineer  commended  itself  to  all. 

"  I  do  not  wish  to  be  understood  as  claiming  that  an  engi- 
neer cannot  be  a  well-behaved  man  without  he  belongs  to  this 
organization  ;  but  all  engineers  of  much  experience  very  well 
know  that  a  few  years  ago,  when  a  party  of  engineers  met,  the 
first  thing  thought  of  was  to  *  come  and  take  a  drink.' 
Although  I  am  obliged  to  confess  that  this  is  too  much  the  case 


THE    BROTHERHOOD   OF   LOCOMOTIVE   ENGINEERS.       87 

now,  yet  all  will  agree  that  great  improvement  has  been  made 
within  a  few  years  ;  and  I  think  this  Brotherhood  is  entitled 
to  full  credit  for  what  has  been  accomplished  in  this  reform. 
If  any  position  requires  sober  men  it  is  that  of  locomotive 
engineers,  and  everything  should  be  done  to  secure  such  men 
to  run  train's.  The  engineer  that  uses  intoxicating  drinks  to 
excess  is  not  fit  to  be  intrusted  with  the  lives  and  property  of 
the  travelling  public.  The  public  fully  appreciate  the  advan- 
tages of  having  good  men,  and  I  think  that  you  can  safely  rely 
upon  them  for  their  influence  and  support,  if  you  merit  it  by 
your  good  conduct. 

"  It  is  absolutely  necessary  to  the  maintenance  of  your  posi- 
tion to  have  a  sentiment  inculcated  and  universally  acknowl- 
edged that  the  position  of  a  locomotive  engineer  is  of  such  a 
responsible  character  that  no  railroad  official  will  be  justified 
under  any  circumstance  in  employing  any  man  to  fill  that  posi- 
tion unless  he  shall  be  a  man  that  possesses  every  requisite 
quality,  both  moral  and  mechanical. 

"  I  have  been  led  to  make  these  remarks  from  the  fact  that 
many  men  are  hired  to  run  engines  that  are  universally  known 
to  be  men  of  no  moral  character,  some  of  them  apparently  not 
having  much  regard  for  human  life,  and  with  no  mechanical 
knowledge  of  the  powerful  engine  intrusted  to  their  care.  It 
is  idle  for  managers  to  deny  this,  as  the  proof  is  abundant, 
showing  how  these  irresponsible  men  get  positions,  and  are 
retained  in  them  to  the  exclusion  of  good  and  reliable  men.  If 
this  class  of  irresponsible  men  are  just  as  good  engineers  as  you 
are,  then  your  efforts  are  all  for  nought  ;  and  the  official  does 
not  perform  his  duty  by  hiring  good  men  and  paying  liberally, 
as  there  are  plenty  of  those  ready-made  engineers  that  can  be 
hired  for  half  price.  The  knowledge  acquired  by  years  of  ex- 
perience is  in  emergencies  worth  more  to  the  company,  as  well 
as  to  the  passengers  on  the  train,  than  all  the  wages  the  engi- 
neer will  ever  receive  while  running  an  engine. 

'  The  truth  is,  there  is  not  importance  enough  attached  to 
your  position  ;  neither  are  you  held  to  as  strict  accountability 


88  SAM   HOBAKT. 

as  you  ought  to  be.  If  it  were  possible  to  make  yonr  position 
properly  respected,  and  you  were  paid  wages  sufficient  to 
enable  you  to  save  a  surplus  for  old  age,  and  ample  time  was 
allowed  to  keep  your  mind  as  well  as  your  engine  in  good 
repair — I  say,  with  these  facilities  and  privileges  offered  you, 
you  ought  never  to  ask  to  be  excused  for  neglect  <ff  duty  on 
your  part.  You  should  not  attempt  to  perform  the  duty  of 
running  an  engine  without  a  thorough  understanding  of  all  that 
pertains  to  that  important  position  ;  and  any  answer  or  act  on 
your  part  that  indicated  incompetency  should  be  a  sufficient 
reason  for  your  rejection  or  dismissal.  I  cannot  imagine  any 
position  in  which  a  man  can  be  placed  th«t  requires  better 
judgment,  and  fuller  knowledge  of  the  duties  he  will  be  called 
upon  to  perform  than  that  of  a  locomotive  engineer. 

"  The  recent  railroad  difficulty  has  been  the  cause  of  some 
slight  trouble  within  our  ranks  ;  but  all  will  eventually  admit 
that  it  has  afforded  us  a  lesson  that  will  be  of  great  advantage 
to  us  in  all  our  future  proceedings.  It  has  developed  resources 
that  no  one  could  have  anticipated.'* 

The  w'ords  "  to  excess'7  in  the  address  Sam  did  not  like.  He 
claimed  that  they  were  misleading.  "  It  is  impossible  to  play 
or  tamper  with  strong  drink  and  remain  safe.  No  one  knows 
what  is  l  to  excess.'  At  one  time  a  man  can  stand  more  than  he 
can  at  another  time.  What  would  not  be  l  to  excess  9  in  health 
and  strength  might  overcome  and  overturn  him  in  sickness 
and  weakness,  and  yet  it  is  in  weakness  and  sickness  his  need 
for  it  appears  to  be  greatest.  No  ;  leave  liquor  alone,"  said 
Sam.  "  Sleep,  rest,  keep  well  in  body  and  sound  in  mind, 
and  trust  to  the  Lord  and  not  to  stimulus." 

A    TRIBUTE    TO    DEAN    RICHMOND. 

"  In  calling  to  mind  the  men  that  have  been  our  friends  and 
upon  whom  we  have  leaned  in  every  emergency  to  assist  in 
maintaining  the  right,  I  know  you  will  pardon  me  if  I  mention 
the  name  of  Dean  Richmond.  He  was  emphatically  the  poor 


THE   BROTHERHOOD   OF   LOCOMOTIVE   ENGINEERS.       89 

man's  friend.  To  him  we  are  indebted  in  a  measure  for  the 
good  standing  we  occupy  to-day.  I  think  that  the  example  of 
organization  on  the  New  York  Central  Railroad  has  had  a  good 
influence  upon  other  sections  of  the  country.  He  was  the 
president  of  the  road  throughout  the  whole  history  of  our 
organization,  and  no  narrow  suspicion  ever  entered  his  mind 
that  the  engineers  would  make  unreasonable  demands  if  they 
were  combined  in  a  Brotherhood.  He  took  as  much  pride  in 
the  improvement  made  in  thej  conduct  of  the  engineers  as  any 
member  of  the  Order.  Death  has  removed  him  from  labor  on 
earth,  but  his  memory  will  ever  be  cherished  with  the  most 
grateful  recollections  by  all  engineers  who  had  the  pleasure  of 
his  acquaintance,  and  who  have  been  partakers  of  his  liberality 
in  the  capacity  of  employes  under  him  on  the  New  York  Cen- 
tral Kailroad.  It  is  fitting  for  all  to  pause  at  the  death  of  one 
that,  possessing  both  power  and  wealth,  apparently  did  not 
enjoy  either  when  the  one  deprived  the  humblest  of  his  rights, 
or.  the  other  deprived  the  poor  of  the  necessities  of  life. 

"  I  regret  that  we  have  so  few  engineers  that  seem  to  feel 
any  interest  in  the  welfare  of  their  old  associates.  H.  G. 
Brooks,  Esq.,  General  Superintendent  of  the  motive  power  of 
the  New  York  and  Erie  Railroad,  with  a  few  others,  are  honor- 
able exceptions.  Let  us  resolve  that  we  will  not  disappoint  the 
sanguine  expectations  of  our  friends,  so  that  they,  seeing  our 
good  intentions,  will  be  willing  and  desire  to  assist  us  in  every 
laudable  undertaking. ' ' 

These  words  struck  a  responsive  chord  in  the  breast  of  the 
great-hearted  engineer.  He  believed  in  men.  He  believed  in 
a  place  for  every  man,  and  every  man  for  his  place.  He  was 
content  to  be  an  engineer.  He  did  not  seek  to  be  superin- 
tendent or  president,  but  simply  engineer.  It  was  his  ambi- 
tion to  be  the  best  engineer  on  the  road.  He  felt  the  weight 
of  responsibility  committed  to  his  keeping.  When  he  drew 
out  of  the  depot  with  a  train  crowded  with  passengers,  among 
whom  were  some  of  the  noblest  in  the  land,  though  they  never 
thought  of  the  engineer,  the  engineer  thought  of  them,  and 


V)U  SAM    HOBAKT. 

recognized  the  fact  that  their  lives  were  committed  to  his  care. 
His  faith  in  man  came  to  him  before  he  reposed  faith  in  Jesus 
Christ.  He  gladly  applauded  the  reference  of  the  G.  C.  E.  to 
Dean  Richmond,  and  proudly  claimed  that  Boston  and  Worces- 
ter could  match  his  devotion  and  kindness  in  the  unselfish 
life  of  Ginery  Twichell  a  man  who  began  as  stage-driver  and 
grew  to  be  one  of  the  first  railroad  presidents  of  the  Union. 
Sam  believed  in  railroad  men  as  a  class,  and  sympathized  with 
the  sentiment  expressed  by  0.  T.  Johnson,  F.  G.  E.,  when 
he  said  : 

41  A  fraternal  relation  is  one  around  which  cluster  the  best 
feelings  of  our  nature,  and  the  brother  who  becomes  duly  im- 
pressed with  a  true  sense  of  the  obligations  of  this  relationship 
can  neither  be  controlled  by  selfishness  nor  indifference. 
Brothers,  let  there  be  an  end  to  strife  which  may  have  hereto- 
fore existed  between  us,  for  we  are  brethren  ;  yea,  let  us  leave 
off  contention  before  it  is  meddled  with. 

"  We  must,  if  we  would  be  men,  be  sober,  temperate,  and 
chaste.  The  drunkard  is  a  curse  to  himself,  his  family,  his 
friends,  and  the  world.  He  renders  himself  wretched  in  this 
life,  and  unfitted  for  the  life  hereafter.  The  intemperate  man 
is  only  one  step  behind  the  drunkard  ;  if  he  does  not  pause,  he 
must  shortly  overtake  him.  The  unchaste  man  must  bring 
upon  himself  certain  disgrace  ;  he  is  a  scandal  to  his  kind,  and 
will  be  despised  by  the  good  and  pure.  Brotherly  love  should 
dwell  among  those  who  meet  with  us  here,  and  among  the 
entire  fraternity  of  engineers  wherever  it  exists.  Kindly 
sentiments  for  each  other,  for  the  world,  should  illuminate 
their  hearts,  and  burn  brighter  and  brighter  throughout  all 
time. 

"  We  profess  principles  which  should  destroy  the  stubble  and 
chaff  of  dissension,  and  refine  the  powers  and  faculties  which  con- 
stitute the  dignity  and  glory  of  man.  In  i  union  is  strength  '  is  a 
common  axiom.  We  must  be  united  in  the  cause,  not  only  in 
our  corporate  capacity,  but  in  our  deeds.  A  single  member,  if 
he  labor  with  a  will,  may  accomplish  much  in  the  field  of  frater- 


THE    BKOTHERHOOD    OF    LOCOMOTIVE    ENGINEERS.       01 

nity  ;  but  a  host,  united  in  a  perfect  phalanx  in  the  service  of 
the  Brotherhood,  may  revolutionize  the  world,  and  in  the  course 
of  human  events  we  shall  find  our  hope  fully  realized  and  our 
labor  crowned  with  success.  The  Brotherhood  will  be  equal  to 
if  not  foremost  in  the  ranks  of  other  organizations  already 
established  for  the  good  of  mankind. 

*'  To  enjoy  more  fully  the  desirable  connection  which  our 
frequent  intercourse  affords,  we  should  ever  grace  our  conduct 
to  each  other  with  mildness,  ^generosity,  frankness,  and  confi- 
dence, and  ever  be  ready  to  perform  the  same  office  to  others 
as  far  as  in  our  power,  without  pride  and  arrogance,  always 
remembering  that  cordial  affability  generally  begets  esteem. 
To  those  that  are  erring  from  the  strict  path  of  rectitude,  we 
should  be  assiduous  in  imparting  warning,  reproof,  and  instruc- 
tion. 

4  *  Toward  those  who  are  elected  our  officers,  let  us  exercise  a 
beseeming  degree  of  respect  and  deference,  that  they  may  find 
we  have  set  no  idle  value  upon  the  offices  they  fill.  By  our 
own  voice  they  preside  over  us  ;  as  such,  consequently,  we  virtu- 
ally engage  to  accept  their  instructions  in  all  that  pertaineth  to 
the  good  and  welfare  of  the  Brotherhood.  Hence,  members 
of  the  Order  are  expected  to  welcome  official  admonition,  re- 
proof, and  advice.  I  mean  no  slavish,  mental,  or  bodily  fear, 
or  adulation,  no  sacrifice  of  conscience  or  judgment,  but  a 
readiness  to  hear  the  inculcations  of  the  true  principles  of  the 
Brotherhood  of  Locomotive  Engineers. " 

Through  Sam  Hobart's  influence  the  following  address  was 
delivered  to  the  Brotherhood  in  Boston,  Nov.  18th,  1866  : 

"And  every  man  that  striveth  for  the  mastery  is  temperate." — 1 
Con.  9  :  25. 

* '  The  words  of  the  apostle  deserve  to  be  imprinted  on  the 
memory  and  engraven  on  the  body  of  every  workingman. 

"  Temperance  is  scorned  because  its  value  is  overlooked. 
Men  fail  to  appreciate  what  it  helps  them  to  win.  They  ignore 


92  SAM    HOB  ART. 

the  truth,  that  every  man  that  striveth  for  the  mastery  is  tem- 
perate. 

"  We  know  that  the  combatant  for  the  prizo  ring  is  temperate. 
That  he  abstains  from  the  use  of  intoxicating  drinks,  and  from 
tobacco  ;  that  he  eats  sparingly  and  very  carefully,  in  order 
that  his  blood  be  not  weakened,  and  that  his  strength  be  not 
injured. 

"  We  know  that  men  who  climb  the  hill  of  distinction,  and 
are  to-day  the  foremost  men  of  the  times,  won  the  mastery,  not 
by  dissipating  their  strength,  but  by  husbanding  it.  They  held 
themselves  in  check,  or  in  restraint,  in  order  that  they  might 
employ  their  force  in  a  given  direction. 

"The  idea  contained  in  the  word  Temperance  is  habitual 
moderation  in  the  indulgence  of  the  natural  appetites  and  pas- 
sions. The  purpose  of  this  moderation  is  set  forth  by  the 
champion  of  the  cross.  It  is  to  win  the  mastery.  A  temper- 
ate man  is  not  an  indolent  man,  nor  is  he  a  moderate  man,  in 
the  common  acceptation  of  the  term.  He  may  make  good  time  ; 
indeed,  he  can  make  the  best  time  because  he  is  temperate. 
This  thought  is  not  welcomed,  nor  is  it  believed  in  this  land  of 
wild  enterprises  and  gigantic  undertakings.  More  than  that, 
and  worse  than  that,  it  is  ignored.  Men  drink  to  obtain  the 
mastery.  Intemperance  could  not  be  tolerated  if  this  opinion 
did  not  prevail,  that  stimulus  is  conducive  to  success.  The 
theory  prevails,  in  the  West  more  than  in  the  East,  that  stimu- 
lus is  essential  to  success.  How  large  a  proportion  use  intoxi- 
cating drinks  and  how  many  use  tobacco  is  best  known  to  you. 
The  reason  for  this  indulgence  in  rum  and  tobacco  is  to  win 
the  mastery.  You  claim  it  steadies  the  nerves,  clears  the  brain, 
takes  away  all  thoughts  of  danger,  and  enables  you  drive  your 
heated  courser  along  his  iron  way  with  lightning  velocity. 

"  Statistics  assure  us  that  a  large  proportion  of  the  accidents 
on  railroads  and  rivers  are  the  result  of  stimulus.  We  have 
seen  it  on  the  steamer  as  on  the  rail -car.  The  engineer  gets 
excited.  He  is  asked  to  compete  ;  the  fire  burns  within  ;  the 
brain  feels  it,  and  at  once  the  steam  is  turned  on  and  every- 


THE    BROTHERHOOD    OF   LOCOMOTIVE    ENGINEERS.       93 

thing  is  pushed  forward  with  all  possible  haste.  The  effect  is 
so  apparent  that  on  some  of  our  best  managed  roads  an  en- 
gineer is  not  employed  who  is  accustomed  to  the  use  of  intoxi- 
cating liquors.  Statistics  prove  that  temperance  is  the  key  to 
success  in  avoiding  accidents,  in  protecting  life,  and  in  promot- 
ing the  interests  of  the  public. 

"  Notwithstanding  the  lesson  taught  by  figures,  men  at  their 
toil  preach  that  they  who  would  gain  this  mastery  must  be  in- 
temperate. Benjamin  Franklin  proved  the  contrary  when  he 
worked  as  a  printer  in  London.  The  English  printers  drank 
their  beer.  He  drank  clear,  cold  water.  At  length  an  English- 
man accosted  him  with  the  question,  4  Why  don't  you  drink 
beer?'  *  Can't  afford  it,'  was  the  reply.  *  You  have  more 
money  than  I  have,  but  I  can't  afford  the  strength — I  desire  to 
keep  myself  strong.'  *  Ah,'  said  the  Englishman,  '  beer  makes 
strength. '  '  No  it  doesn't, '  said  Franklin.  *  It  does, '  replied  the 
Englishman  ;  'this  makes  me  drink  it. '  '  Then  I  will  show  you, ' 
said  Franklin,  '  that  I  am  stronger  without  beer  than  you  are 
with  it.'  There  were  printer's  forms  made  up,  type  enchased 
in  iron,  and  ready  for  the  press.  '  Carry  that  across  the  shop,' 
said  Franklin.  The  beer-drinking  Englishman  attempted  it,  and 
with  great  difficulty,  succeeded  in  carrying  a  single  form. 
Franklin  took  two  forms,  one  in  each  hand,  and  bore  them 
without  difficulty.  The  proof  was  apparent,  and  a  reform  was 
worked  in  the  shop. 

'*  This  lesson  is  taught  by  the  All- Wise  Ruler  in  various 
ways.  The  universe  pushes  on  toward  its  distant  goal,  because 
of  restraining  forces  which  hold  each  star  and  sun  and  planet  in 
its  given  orbit. 

"  A  star  or  a  planet  bent  oh  self-indulgence  and  breaking 
forth  from  the  restraints  of  gravitation,  would,  unless  checked, 
shatter  into  atoms  the  systems  which  sweep  on  in  their  shining 
pathway  which  the  Creator  has  prepared  for  them. 

"  Do  we  turn  to  nature,  we  find  this  truth  illustrated  in 
many  ways. 

"  Undue  excitement  reacts,  and  begets  weakness.     Temper- 


94:  SAM   HOB  ART. 

ance  and  moderation  is  health.  A  field  can  be  forced  to  yield 
great  crops,  but  unless  its  wasted  energies  are  supplied  by  rest, 
its  strength  departs  and  barrenness  ensues.  An  apple-tree  seems 
to  possess  intelligence  It  will  tell  by  the  tinge  of  its  flower, 
and  by  the  brightness  of  its  leaf,  and  by  the  quality  of  its  fruit, 
whether  it  has  been  intemperate  or  not.  If  this  year  it  is  in- 
temperate in  yield,  next  year  it  will  resemble  the  drunkard 
getting  over  the  effects  of  his  debauch,  and  will  be  unable  to 
perform  the  task  allotted  to  it.  In  its  growth  we  see  the  same 
truths.  A  restraint  upon  those  forces  which  seek  undue  indul- 
gence, such  as  in  limbs  seeking  to  disturb  the  equilibrium  of 
the  parent,  or  in  a  disposition  to  pour  all  of  its  rich  fluids  into 
the  harvest  of  a  single  year,  will  detract  from  the  symmetry, 
beauty,  and  health  of  the  tree.  Hence  a  wise  horticulturist  will 
preach  Paul's  sermon  to  his  orchards,  vines,  and  plants,  claim- 
ing that  they  who  would  win  the  mastery  must  be  temperate. 
Hence  he  will  watch  his  trees  and  shrubs,  and  when  they  are 
unduly  excited,  will  bud,  and  check  their  proclivities,  knowing 
that  by  so  doing  he  protects  the  future  from  the  disasters  re- 
sulting from  the  imprudence  of  to-day. 

"  These  thoughts  were  suggested  by  a  contemplation  of  the 
object  of  this  and  kindred  organizations.  You  desire  to  pro- 
mote the  growth,  intellectually,  morally,  and  physically,  of 
the  class  of  which  you  are  representing.  In  no  way  can  you 
do  so  better  than  by  conforming  to  the  principles  enunciated 
in  the  words,  '  And  every  man  that  striveth  for  the  mastery 
is  temperate. '  The  words  do  not  declare  that  every  man  who 
desires  the  mastery  is  temperate,  nor  that  every  man  who  is 
trying  to  obtain  the  mastery  is  temperate,  but  that  every  man 
who  rationally  and  truly  striveth  for  the  mastery  is  temperate. 
Perhaps  we  should  gain  a  better  idea  of  the  mastery  to  be  won 
by  considering  very  briefly  the  railroad  interest  represented  by 
you. 

"  Some  may  object  to  this  language,  and  claim  that  locomotive 
engineers  do  not  represent  the  railroad  interest.  We  all  remem- 
ber the  story  of  the  organist  and  the  boy  that  filled  the  bellows. 


THE   BROTHERHOOD   OF   LOCOMOTIVE   ENGINEERS.       95 

At  the  close  of  the  performance  the  boy  came  round  and  said, 
*  Didn't  we  play  splendid  ?'  '  We  !  What  did  you  have 
to  do  with  the  playing?'  'I  Mowed,'  replied  the  boy. 
4  Go  away,'  said  the  organist,  'you  didn't  do  anything  with 
the  playing. '  The  next  occasion  that  presented  itself  the  boy 
thought  he  would  see  whether  or  no  he  was  of  any  importance. 
So,  in  the  midst  of  a  splendid  performance  he  stopped  blow- 
ing, and  of  course  the  musio  collapsed.  *  Blow  !  blow  !  '  he 
cried.  '  Say  ive,  then,'  said  the  boy,  and  the  organist  was 
compelled  to  shout  '  We,'  before  he  could  go  on.  It  needs  no 
argument  to  prove  that  our  railroad  system  depends  upon  the 
character  of  our  locomotive  engineers  more  than  any  other 
class.  The  Worcester  Railroad  makes  temperate  habits  a  sine 
qua  non  in  its  engineers,  and  so  perhaps  do  other  roads.  The 
result  is  seen  in  the  fewness  of  accidents  and  in  the  regularity 
of  trains. 

"  The  locomotive  is  a  school  ever  crowded  with  scholars,  who 
graduate  from  it  to  fill  other  important  positions  in  other  ranks 
of  life.  During  the  engineers'  strike  on  the  Michigan  Southern 
Railroad  it  surprised  every  one  to  see  how  many  conductors, 
master  mechanics,  and  other  officials  had  served  their  time  on 
the  locomotive. 

"  During  the  early  history  of  the  war,  all  remember  the  inci- 
dent when  General  Butler  found  an  old  locomotive  in  the  shop 
at  Annapolis,  out  of  repair,  but  essential  to  their  march. 
'  Does  any  one  here  know  anything  about  this  machine  ?  ' 
Charles  Homans,  a  private  of  Company  E,  of  the  Massachusetts 
Eighth,  eyed  the  machine  for  a  moment,  and  said,  '  Our  shop 
made  that  engine,  General  ;  I  guess  I  can  put  her  in  order  and 
run  her. '  *  Go  to  work  and  do  it. '  Charles  Homans  picked 
out  a  man  or  two,  and  began  at  once  to  obey  the  order.  Loco- 
motive engineers  are  found  in  every  rank  of  railway  life. 
Their  very  education  enables  them  to  take  responsibilit}7  ; 
to  keep  their  wits  about  them  ;  and  if  they  have  an  inclina- 
tion to  study  mechanical  engineering,  there  is  no  limit  to 
their  acquisitions,  nor  to  the  doors  thrown  open  before  them 


96  SAM   HOBART. 

for  advancement.  In  1860  there  were  31,185  miles  of  rail- 
road, in  1883  over  125,000.  A  railroad  map  discloses  at  a 
glance  the  extent  of  this  system.  It  interlaces  New  England  ; 
its  iron  bands  unite  the  East  to  the  West,  and  will,  ere-long, 
pass  through  the  gates  of  the  mountains  and  belt  the  continent. 
This  has  been  the  product  of  less  than  forty  years.  In  1826 
the  first  sod  was  cut  on  the  line  of  the  Baltimore  and  Ohio  Rail- 
road. It  was  on  the  4th  day  of  July,  our  natal  day  in  more 
senses  than  one.  The  road  was  originally  planned  for  a  horse 
track  only  ;  but  the  introduction  of  steam  locomotives  from 
England  encouraged  the  attempt  to  run  them  on  the  line,  and 
in  1830  a  small  engine  constructed  at  Baltimore  was  put  upon 
the  road,  which  still  exists  and  is  preserved  in  the  company's 
workshop  as  a  very  interesting  relic.  Although  the  traffic  was 
great,  the  engine  appears  to  have  been  only  partially  worked, 
the  trains  having  also  been  moved  by  horses. 

"Contemplate  the  fact.  In  1826  Stephenson  was  compelled, 
against  obloquy,  to  oppose  the  attempt  to  draw  trains  by  station- 
ary engines  by  the  aid  of  ropes,  and  his  prophecy  that  this  iron 
horse  would  yet  be  completed  to  move  at  twelve  miles  an  hour 
and  drag  a  load  after  him  was  received  with  roars  of  laughter. 
In  1830  the  New  York  Central  Railroad  was  begun.  In  1831 
twelve  different  railroad  companies  were  incorporated,  and 
from  this  time  railroad  enterprises  were  multiplied  with  great 
rapidity.  In  1832  the  most  important  lines  were  commenced 
in  Massachusetts,  Pennsylvania,  and  New  Jersey.  Behold  the 
tree  grown  from  the  seedling.  To-day  the  West  and  East  are 
neighbors.  We  build  the  factories,  weave  the  cloth,  make  the 
shoes,  and  other  notions  ;  the  West  grows  the  wheat  and  corn 
on  which  we  feed.  Were  it  not  for  the  railroad,  there  can  be 
no  doubt  cities  would  still  hug  the  Atlantic  border  and  the 
banks  of  rivers,  and  the  vast  West  with  its  inland  towns  would 
have  remained  an  uninhabited  wilderness. 

"  We  read  much  of  the  famine  in  India,  in  which  over  two 
millions  of  human  beings  have  starved  to  death.  What  is  the 
cause  ?  The  answer  is  plain.  There  is  no  means  of  communi- 


THE   BROTHERHOOD   OF   LOCOMOTIVE   ENGINEERS.       97 

cation,  and  so,  while  food  abounds  in  one  department  it  fails 
in  another,  and  they  starve  for  lack  of  means  of  communica- 
tion. Imagine  our  railroad  system  broken  off.  The  East 
would  starve  and  the  West  would  be  reduced  to  first  principles, 
and  would  become  naked  as  savages  before  they  could  protect 
themselves. 

"  Years  ago  the  surplus  products  of  Ohio  had  accumulated 
beyond  the  means  of  transport,  and  wheat  sold  in  the  interior 
at  thirty-seven  cents  and  Indian  corn  at  ten  cents.  When  the 
Erie  Canal  was  opened,  and  soon  after  the  Ohio  Canal, 
prices  were  raised  more  than  fifty  per  cent.  Now  that  the 
means  of  transportation  have  increased,  the  price  of  flour  in 
the  interior  has  more  than  trebled,  while  on  the  seaboard  it  is 
higher  than  ever  before. 

"  Land  has  risen  because  of  railroads,  from  $1.25  to  $20  and 
$30  per  acre.  Between  1850  and  1860,  the  prices  of  farms 
throughout  the  West  have  doubled.  And  of  about  9,000,000 
tons,  the  produce  carried  from  the  WTest  to  the  East,  the  rail- 
roads carry  two  thirds.  All  the  lines  are  stocked  with  freight, 
and  at  times  places  like  Toledo  or  Cleveland  get  blocked  with 
produce.  We  have  hardly  an  idea  of  the  elevators  and  of  the 
means  employed  to  lighten  labor.  The  future  resources  of 
America  are  such  that,  with  all  the  products  of  skill  we  shall  be 
unable  with  our  present  facilities  to  do  the  business  that  presses 
upon  us  at  every  turn. 

"  As  has  been  said,  '  A  vast  amount  of  produce  is  destroyed 
yearly  from  the  inability  of  the  carriers  to  carry  it  forward. 
The  owners  are  ruined.  The  parties  in  the  Eastern  States  who 
advance  money  on  their  produce  charge  excessive  rates  to 
cover  the  risks  of  failure.'  The  result  is,  the  producer,  the 
merchant,  the  railway  company,  and  the  consumer  are  all 
directly  injured  ;  but  the  indirect  injury  extends  far  beyond 
this.  The  whole  produce  of  the  West,  and  consequently  the 
entire  cultivation  of  America,  is  affected.  If  the  produce  cannot 
be  carried,  it  can  only  find  local  markets.  If  it  only  find  local 
markets,  prices  must  abate.  If  prices  abate,  the  stimulus  to 


98  SAM    HOBAUT. 

cultivation  of  land  is  lost.  If  the  land  is  not  required  for  cul- 
tivation, in  the  same  proportion  it  diminishes  in  value.  The 
prosperity  of  the  West,  the  value  of  its  produce,  the  value  of 
its  land,  and  the  extent  of  land  cultivated  and  the  provisions  in 
the  East,  together  with  the  demand  for  the  product  here  pro- 
duced— all  depend  upon  the  increased  facilities  for  the  convey- 
ance of  produce,  and  those  facilities  railroads  must  afford. 

"  The  occasion,  then,  that  invites  our  thought  materially  in- 
terests all  classes  of  men.  Without  railways  the  States  of  the 
great  West  would  have  been  nothing.  With  railways  they  are 
what  they  are.  With  a  proper  development  of  the  railway 
system,  they  may  be  ten  times,  nay  a  hundred  times  greater 
than  they  are. 

"  The  want  has  been  expressed  for  a  combination  for  the  due 
development  of  traffic.  It  is  proposed  to  bring  the  immense 
chain- work  of  Northern  railroads  into  closer  communication 
with  the  Southern  system,  and  to  establish  railway  intercourse 
across  the  continent — from  the  shores  of  the  Atlantic  to  the 
shores  of  the  Pacific. 

41  Napoleon  tried  to  grasp  the  key  of  commerce  and  compel 
the  nations  of  the  earth  to  pay  their  toll  for  the  transportation 
of  goods  and  people  into  their  treasury.  The  failure  of  his 
Mexican  scheme  and  the  opening  of  that  land  to  the  energy, 
the  enterprise,  and  the  civilization  of  the  United  States,  proves 
that  God's  purpose  is  to  keep  the  control  of  this  Western  con- 
tinent in  the  hands,  not  of  the  Latin,  but  of  the  Anglo-Saxon 
races.  Sir  Morton  Peto,  in  his  invaluable  treatise  on  the  rail- 
way future  of  America,  expresses  a  conviction  which  deserves 
consideration.  He  declares  the  great  means  of  developing  the 
railway  system  is  co-operation.  A  system  which  will  place  the 
various  great  lines  of  railway  in  a  position  to  carry  any  amount 
of  passengers  and  freight  traffic  is  essential  to  the  prosperity 
of  railways  and  the  advancement  of  this  country. 

"  4  The  fact  is,  the  American  railways  have  been  made  and 
are  conducted  too  much  in  detached  portions,  and  too  little  on 
a  large  and  liberal  system  of  co-operation.  The  wide  extent, 


THE   BROTHERHOOD   OF   LOCOMOTIVE   ENGINEERS.       99 

the  enlarged  resources,  the  rapid  development  of  this  territory 
accounts  very  much  for  this.  But  the  American  railways  must 
be  worked  as  one  system.  This  result  may  be  accomplished 
by  substituting  for  a  system  of  jealousy,  rivalry,  and  opposi- 
tion, one  of  common  understanding,  comprehensive  alliance, 
friendship,  mutuality,  and  interchange — each  line  acting  as  a 
part  of  one  great  entire  whole — the  railways  in  fact  consider- 
ing themselves  not  a  system  of  States,  but  a  system  of  United 
States. ' 

*'  That  this  result  is  being  achieved  there  can  be  no  doubt. 
The  railroad  conventions  prove  it.  The  gathering  of  different 
organizations  similar  to  your  own  establish  the  conclusion  that 
a  community  of  interest  is  felt  to  be  an  element  and  source 
of  strength. 

1 '  Let  the  work  go  on.  Let  schools  be  established  for  the  per- 
fection of  men  in  the  practical  work  at  hand,  and  for  the  edu- 
cation of  the  mind  in  all  that  appertains  to  their  given  pursuits, 
and  great  good  will  be  obtained. 

u  From  this  hasty  sketch  of  railway  interests  it  is  evident  that 
the  highest  incentives  to  exertion,  to  temperance,  to  the  obtain- 
ing of  skill,  of  information  and  of  culture,  is  held  out  to  those 
who  have  turned  their  attention  to  this  important  branch  of 
industry. 

"  In  engineering,  as  in  all  other  employments,  culture  pays. 
The  man  who  labors  with  his  hands  and  does  not  work  his 
brain  must  forever  live  from  hand  to  mouth.  It  is  brain  work 
attended  with  hand  work  that  makes  Titans  of  men.  The 
physical  necessity  of  mental  activity  in  every  practical  sense 
confers  upon  the  mind  the  power  to  determine  our  stature, 
strength,  or  longevity,  to  multiply  our  organs  of  sense  and  in- 
crease their  capacity  in  some  cases  to  30,000,000  their  natural 
power. 

11  George  Stephenson,  born  June  9th,  1781,  near  the  Wylau 
Colliery,  was  the  son  of  the  fireman  of  the  pumping  engine. 
At  eighteen  years  of  age  he  could  neither  read,  write,  nor 
cipher.  He  had  mastered  the  steam-engine,  could  take  it  in 


100  SAM   HOBART. 

pieces,  but  he  could  not  read.  AJI  evening  school  was  started 
in  the  colliery.  He  seized  the  opportunity,  broke  the  fetters 
that  bound  him,  and  became  a  master  mechanic.  His  skill  in 
applying  ideas  at  last  arrested  the  attention  of  the  owners  of 
the  colliery,  and  he  received  the  appointment  of  chief  engineer 
at  £100  per  annum.  From  that  moment  his  progress  was 
rapid.  He  built  his  first  locomotive,  obtained  the  prize,  and 
became  the  founder  of  the  railway  system.  What  was  the 
secret  of  his  success  ?  lie  was  temperate.  In  the  midst  of  his 
occupations  he  cultivated  his  powers  and  became  a  gentleman. 
The  result  was,  he  became  conscious  of  his  power  and  possessed 
confidence  in  his  own  judgment,  which  enabled  him  to  carry 
out  principles  to  their  legitimate  extent,  but  from  which  feebler 
or  more  practical  minds  usually  shrink. 

44  Instances  abound  in  this  country  more  surprising  than  this. 
How  many  a  poor  boy  has  kept  himself  aloof  from  society  that 
would  degrade  him,  has  husbanded  his  resources,  his  time  and 
money,  until  he  has  worked  his  way  from  the  lowest  to  the 
most  exalted  positions? 

44  In  my  mind  I  see  a  man  who  is  the  president  of  a  Western 
road  who  began  as  a  brakeman.  But  he  was  an  elegant 
brakeman.  His  work  done,  he  sought  pleasure  in  study,  and 
attracted  the  attention  of  a  railroad  official,  who  promoted  him, 
and  on  and  on  he  went  until  he  has  won  the  name  of  Railway 
King. 

14  Forget  not  that  in  this  country  every  railroad  constructed 
calls  into  development  vast  areas  of  unworked  wealth  ;  it  also 
calls  for  men  to  manage  and  control  it.  Men  are  the  powers 
that  carry  forward  enterprises. 

"  Clang,  clang,  the  massive  anvils  ring  ; 
Clang,  clang  !  a  hundred  hammers  swing  ; 
Like  the  thunder  rattle  of  a  tropic  sky, 
The  mighty  blows  still  multiply  ; 

Clang,  clang, 

Say,  brothers  of  the  dusky  bro\r, 
What  are  your  strong  arms  forging  now  ? 


THE    BROTHERHOOD   OF   LOCOMOTIVE    ENGINEERS.     101 

"  The  world  asks  that  question,  and  listens  for  a  reply. 

"  How  truthfully  Elihu  Burritt,  the  Learned  Blacksmith,  de- 
scribes the  movement  of  the  Iron  Horse,  with  bones  of  steel 
and  muscles  of  brass,  that  will  run  against  time  with  Mercury  or 
any  other  winged  messenger  of  Jove. 

"  He  brings  out  his  huge  leviathan  hexoped  upon  the  track. 
How  the  giant  creature  struts  forth  from  his  stable,  panting  to 
be  gone.  His  great  breast  is  a*  furnace  of  burning  coals  ;  his 
lymphatic  blood  is  boiling  in  his  veins  ;  the  strength  of  a  thou- 
sand horses  is  nerving  his  iron  sinews.  But  his  master  reins 
him  in  with  one  finger,  till  the  whole  of  some  Western  village 
— men,  women,  children,  and  half  their  horned  cattle,  sheep, 
poultry,  wheat,  cheese,  and  potatoes — has  been  stowed  away  in 
that  long  train  of  wagons  he  has  harnessed  to  his  fiery  steed. 
And  now  he  shouts,  interrogatorily,  All  right  ?  and  applying  a 
burning  goad  to  the  huge  creature,  away  it  thunders  over  the 
iron  road,  breathing  forth  fire  and  smoke  in  its  indignant  haste 
to  outstrip  the  wind.  More  terrible  than  the  war-horse  in 
Scripture,  clothed  with  loud  thunder,  and  emitting  a  cloud  of 
flame  and  burning  coals  from  his  iron  nostrils,  he  dashes  on 
through  dark  mountain  passes,  over  jolting  precipices  and  deep 
ravines.  His  tread  shakes  the  eaith  like  a  trembling  Niagara, 
and  the  sound  of  his  chariot-wheels  warns  the  people  of  the 
distant  town  that  he  is  coming. 

"  Think  of  it  :  on  these  fiery  coursers  ride  these  men,  now 
down  to  peril,  if  not  to  death,  and  now  on  to  safety  and 
repose.  Such  men  should  be  self-restrained.  Their  brain 
should  be  cool,  their  nerves  under  supreme  control  ;  and  only 
the  temperate  attain  this  mastery.  Contemplate  the  scene. 
In  the  night  time,  as  in  the  day,  their  iron  horses  rattle  on 
their  iron  way.  It  is  a  luxury  to  listen  to  the  chime  of  that 
mighty  chronometer.  We  hear  the  beat  of  great  pendulums 
swinging  through  their  iron  arks — East  and  West — Boston  and 
Chicago — further  to  the  westward  still  goes  the  train — 

"  Swinging  through  the  forests, 
Rattling  over  ridges, 


102  SAM   HDBART. 

Shooting  under  arches, 
Rumbling  over  bridges, 
Whizzing  through  the  mountains, 
Buzzing  through  the  vale, 

and  pushing  on  through  the  Golden  Gate  to  the  shores  of  the 
blue  Pacific. 

44  Whether  we  sleep  or  wake,  whether  we  journey  or  stay  at 
home,  the  morning  train,  like  the  flying  spindle,  is  carrying 
the  thread  of  traffic  through  the  woof  of  commerce.  As 
regular  as  the  sun  rises  or  sets  this  work  goes  on.  To  the  en- 
gineer more  than  any  one  else  we  intrust  our  property  and  our 
lives.  Commerce  and  humanity  are  alike  interested  in  promot- 
ing your  mental  and  moral  welfare. 

"  But  there  are  other  interests.  Christ  has  claims  upon  you. 
Your  immortal  souls  are  to  be  saved  or  lost.  Your  influence 
on  earth  and  your  happiness  in  eternity  depend  upon  your  ac- 
ceptance or  rejection  of  the  Gospel. 

44  You  know  the  value  of  that  single  burning  lamp  of  the 
locomotive  as  you  plunge  into  the  darkness  of  the  natural 
night. 

44  There  is  a  moral  night  of  denser  gloom.  It  is  rayless  only 
as  the  light  brought  by  Christ  sheds  its  radiance  upon  your 
path. 

44  You  know  the  value  of  the  signal  when  danger  threatens 
you.  Christ  has  given  you  the  signal.  A  while  ago  a  terrible 
storm  gathered  in  the  sky,  and  the  torrent  filled  the  streams 
which  in  maddening  fury  swept  away  the  bridges.  There  were 
but  a  few  moments  between  the  crash  and  the  coming  of  the 
express  train.  A  poor  frail  woman  left  her  child,  took  her  lan- 
tern, and,  amid  the  driving  wind  and  pelting  rain,  swung  the 
light  and  gave  the  signal.  Yonder  comes  the  train.  Behold 
her  in  the  path,  swinging  her  light.  The  fiery  horse  conies  on. 
Nearer  and  nearer  it  comes.  At  last  the  whistle  sounds  Down 
with  the  brakes  !  and  that  passenger  train  is  saved.  That  work 
can  be  understood.  Christ  has  encountered  greater  peril  than 
that  frail  woman.  He  stood  in  the  path  and  permitted  the 


THE   BROTHERHOOD   OF   LOCOMOTIVE   ENGINEERS.    103 

bolt  to  fall  upon  him,  that  he  might  sound  the  alarm  and  kindle 
.  in  the  path  of  danger  the  warning  light. 

"  It  is  said  that  on  the  Dayton  and  Cincinnati  road,  during 
one  of  the  freshets  of  the  spring,  a  bridge  was  washed  away  by 
the  swollen  stream.  The  track-master  failed  to  ascertain  the 
fact,  and  so  the  signal -master  telegraphed  all  right  to  the  Day- 
ton office,  and  the  train  left  the  depot.  Soon  the  peril  was  dis- 
covered, and  a  report  was  sent  on,  but  it  was  now  too  late. 
There  was  no  intermediate  station,  and  the  train  was  doomed 
unless  some  unlooked-for  Providence  should  save  them.  Alas, 
no  help  came,  and  blindly  at  full  speed  the  locomotive  leaped 
into  the  chasm,  and  many  lives  were  sacrificed.  Imagine  the 
feelings  of  that  track-  and  signal -master.  They  should  have 
known  the  peril  and  sounded  the  alarm. 

"Would  you  win  the  mastery  on  earth?  be  temperate. 
Would  you  win  the  crown  that  never  fadeth  ?  then  add  to  your 
temperance,  patience  ;  and  to  patience,  godliness  ;  and  to  god- 
liness, brotherly  kindness  ;  and  to  brotherly  kindness,  charity. 

"  Accept  Jesus  Christ  as  the  way,  the  truth,  and  the  light, 
remembering  that  whatsoever  worketh  in  this  way  worketh 
safely  ;  whosoever  believeth  this  truth,  obtaineth  thereby  eter- 
nal life,  and  whosoever  accepts  the  guidance  of  this  light  enter- 
eth  a  path  which  shall  grow  brighter  and  brighter  unto  the  per- 
fect day.  Do  this  for  the  world's  sake  as  well  as  for  your 
own.  You  must  exert  an  important  influence  over  those  with 
whom  you  mingle.  Let  it  be  felt  in  the  cause  of  Christ,  and 
thus  shall  you  secure  the  broadest,  fullest,  and  freest  develop- 
ment on  earth,  and  the  trials  and  cares  endured  here  will  form 
a  fitting  prelude  to  the  rest  prepared  for  the  people  of  God 
hereafter. ' ' 

The  Baltimore  and  Ohio  Railroad  opposed  the  organization 
of  the  Brotherhood,  and  substituted  an  Employes  Relief  Asso- 
ciation instead,  in  accordance  with  this  following  plan.  It  was 
organized  May  1st,  1880,  and  incorporated  by  an  act  of  the 
Maryland  Legislature  May  3d,  1882. 


104  SAM    HOHART. 

The  object  of  this  association  is  to  provide  a  fund  for  relief 
in  cases  of  sickness,  injury,  old  age,  or  death,  to  the  Baltimore 
and  Ohio  Railroad  employes  and  their  families.  The  full  pay- 
ment of  all  benefits  for  sickness,  accident,  or  death  is  guaranteed 
by  the  company,  which  at  the  outset  gave  the  sum  of  $100,000  as 
a  basis  of  operations,  which  amount  is  invested  in  securities  which 
yield  a  revenue  of  six  per  cent  per  annum.  This,  together  wit!, 
amounts  received  from  members  as  dues,  forms  a  fund  to  meet 
the  demands  made  by  members  upon  the  funds  of  the  associa- 
tion for  the  payment  of  benciits.  Every  able-bodied  employe 
of  the  Baltimore  and  Ohio  Railroad  not  over  the  age  of  forty- 
five  years,  and  who  passes  a  satisfactory  physical  examination,  is 
eligible  for  membership.  Blank  forms  are  supplied  by  the 
officers  of  the  road,  which  must  be  filled  out,  giving  the  name, 
residence,  age,  occupation,  department  of  the  road  employed 
in,  the  amount  be  deducted  monthly  from  his  pay  as  dues, 
and  the  name  of  the  person  or  persons  to  whom,  in  case  of  his 
death,  his  benefits  shall  be  paid  ;  and  all  applications  made  by 
minors  must  bear  the  written  consent  of  the  parent  or  guardian 
before  the  applicant  can  become  a  member  or  enjoy  any  of 
the  benefits  of  the  society. 

When  the  association  was  organized  it  was  optional  with  the 
men  to  join  or  not,  but  by  a  later  order  of  the  Baltimore  and 
Ohio  Company  all  new  employes  must  subscribe  to  the  relief 
features  before  they  can  be  taken  into  the  service  of  the  com- 
pany. 

MEMBERSHIP — ASSESSMENTS. — When  a  man  passes  the  physi- 
cal examination  referred  to,  his  application  is  forwarded  to  the 
secretary,  and  in  return  the  applicant  recei-ves  a  certificate  of 
membership  stating  the  number  of  benefits  the  holder  is  en- 
titled to  receive.  The  company  grants  to  all  its  employes  who 
are  members  of  the  relief  association  and  to  their  families  trans- 
portation over  the  line  of  the  road  at  half  rates,  and  to  secure 
this  half-rate  ticket  the  employe  is  furnished  with  an  order  by 
his  superior  officer  to  the  nearest  ticket  agent,  stating  to  what 
point  and  for  whom  he  desires  this  ticket,  the  department  of 


THE    BROTHERHOOD    OF    LOCOMOTIVE    ENGINEERS.     105 

the  road  employed  in,  his  occupation,  and  the  number  of  his 
certificate  of  membership  ;  but  he  cannot  secure  this  ticket 
unless  he  can  produce  his  certificate  of  membership,  showing 
that  he  is  the  person  who  is  entitled  to  receive  it. 

The  assessments,  which  are  deducted  from  the  pay  of  the 
members  on  the  pay-rolls,  are  divided  into  two  classes,  known 
as  first  and  second  class.  The  first  class  consists  of  men  who 
are  connected  with  the  runnjng  of  trains,  such  as  engineers, 
firemen,  conductors,  baggage-masters,  brakemen,  switchmen, 
and  flagmen  ;  the  second  class,  of  officers  of  the  road,  clerks, 
agents,  telegraph  operators,  machinists,  and  all  others  not  con- 
nected with  the  running  of  trains.  As  members  of  the  first  class 
run  a  much  greater  risk  of  meeting  with  accidents  than  those 
in  the  second  class,  they  are  assessed  more  per  month  than  the 
latter.  The  amounts  thus  collected  from  the  pay-rolls  are  de- 
posited with  the  treasurer  of  the  Baltimore  and  Ohio  Company, 
upon  whom  all  requisitions  for  disbursements  are  drawn,  and 
the  vouchers  thus  drawn,  after  receiving  the  signature  of  the 
chairman  of  the  Committee  of  Management  and  the  secretary  of 
the  association,  are  payable  by  any  agent  of  the  Baltimore  and 
Ohio  Company  or  can  be  negotiated  through  any  banking  insti- 
tution. 

The  members  are  assessed  in  proportion  to  the  salary  received 
by  them,  under  the  following  schedule  : 

First  Class. — Those  receiving  $35  and  under,  $1  per  month  ; 
those  receiving  $35  and  not  over  $50,  $2  per  month  ;  those 
receiving  $50  and  not  over  $75,  $3  per  month  ;  those  receiving 
875  and  not  over  $100,  $4  per  month  ;  those  receiving  $100 
and  upward,  $5  per  month. 

Second  Class. — Those  receiving  $35  and  under,  seventy- five 
cents  per  month  ;  those  receiving  $35  and  not  over  $50,  $1.50 
per  month  ;  those  receiving  $50  and  not  over  $75.  $2.25  per 
month  ;  those  receiving  $75  and  not  over  $100,  $3  per  month  ; 
those  receiving1  $100  and  upward,  $3.75  per  month. 

BENEFITS  DERIVED. — Take  the  case  of  a  brakeman  who,  say 
in  coupling  a  car,  gets  his  thumb  mashed  and  is  unable  to  per- 


106  SAM    HOBART. 

form  any  manual  labor  for  a  period  of  twenty-five  days,  exclud- 
ing Sundays.  He  reports  the  accident  to  a  medical  inspector, 
who  examines  the  case  and  reports  it  to  the  secretary.  For 
this  the  sufferer  receives  from  the  association  the  sum  of  $25, 
and  as  railroad  companies  pay  only  for  service  actually  per- 
formed, the  man  gets  from  the  relief  association  fund  what  he 
would  not  otherwise  have— the  means  to  support  his  family 
while  he  is  unable  to  work.  He  is  under  no  expense  for  medi- 
cal attendance,  as  the  association  has  an  able  corps  of  medical 
inspectors,  besides  contract  physicians  along  the  line  of  the 
road,  and,  when  attended  by  one  of  the  latter,  the  bill  for  at- 
tendance is  not  rendered  to  the  individual,  but  to  the  Relief 
Association. 

But  should  a  brakeman  be  killed — after  the  fact  has  been 
proved  that  he  was  killed  while  in  the  discharge  of  his  duty, 
the  association  pays  to  his  widow  or  the  beneficiary  named  in 
his  application  for  membership,  the  sum  of  $1000.  There  are 
two  rates  for  accidental  death,  one  rate  being  $500.  For  this 
he  paid  the  association  at  the  rate  of  $2  per  month.  It  is  pro- 
vided, however,  that  no  claims  for  accidental  death  can  be 
paid  until  all  the  heirs  of  the  deceased  file  with  the  secretary  a 
paper  satisfactory  to  him  releasing  the  Baltimore  and  Ohio 
Company  from  damages  ;  and  if  a  member  while  in  the  dis- 
charge of  his  duty  should  receive  any  injury,  and  files  a  suit  in 
any  court  against  the  company,  he  will  not  be,  according  to  the 
constitution  of  the  association,  entitled  to  receive  any  of  the 
benefits  promised  by  the  association.  Take  the  case  of  an  en- 
gineer who  in  the  discharge  of  his  duty  is  injured  and  is  totally 
unable  to  perform  any  manual  labor  for  a  period  of  twenty 
days.  He  pays  into  the  association  the  sum  of  $4  per  month, 
and  is  therefore  entitled  to  receive  twice  the  number  of  bene- 
fits received  by  a  brakeman,  and  he  receives  the  sum  of  $2  for 
every  day  thus  totally  disabled.  Should  he  meet  with  an  ac- 
cident which  would  cause  his  death  while  in  the  discharge  of 
his  duty,  his  heirs  would  receive  the  sum  of  $2000.  A  con- 
ductor pays  $3  per  month,  and  if  sick  twenty  days  would  re- 


THE    BROTHERHOOD    OF   LOCOMOTIVE    ENGINEERS.     107 

ceive  the  sum  of  $30,  and  were  lie  to  meet  with  death  by  acci- 
dent, his  heirs  would  receive  the  sum  of  §1500.  There  is 
insurance  for  sickness  as  well  as  accident.  Take  the  case  of  a 
brakeman  who  is  sick  for  a  period  of  ten  days,  and  unable  to 
perform  his  usual  duties  ;  he  will  receive  the  sum  of  $10,  and 
were  he  to  die  from  natural  causes  his  heirs  would  receive  the 
sum  of  $200,  being  at  the  rate  of  $100  for  each  rate.  An 
engineer  dying  from  natural  causes,  his  heirs  would  receive  the 
sum  of  $400,  being  four  rates  at  $100  each. 

All  claims  presented  and  allowed  by  the  association  on  ac- 
count of  death  are  paid  within  sixty  days  from  the  date  or 
receipt  of  notice  of  death. 

MEDICAL  ATTENDANCE. — The  association  is  under  contract 
with  three  hundred  and  eighteen  physicians  along  the  line  of 
the  road  to  attend  upon  members  in  case  of  accidents,  and  also 
with  the  most  prominent  hospitals  in  Baltimore,  Washington, 
Wheeling,  Pittsburg,  Columbus,  and  Chicago,  where  disabled 
members  may  be  treated  at  greatly  reduced  rates,  and  also  with 
the  Baltimore  Eye  and  Ear  Infirmary,  where  members  receive 
board  and  indoor  treatment  at  the  rate  of  $4  per  week.  They 
also  receive  board  and  the  best  of  medical  treatment  at  the 
hospitals  referred  to  above  at  the  rate  of  $2.50  per  week,  which 
amount  may  be  paid  out  of  the  allowance  from  the  association. 

As  shown  by  the  first  report  of  the  secretary,  dated  May  1st, 
1881,  there  had  been  issued  14,439  certificates  of  membership, 
and  the  gross  receipts  to  December  31st,  1880,  amounted  to 
$88,543.26  ;  the  disbursements  to  $41,503.14  ;  leaving  a 
balance  of  $47,040.12,  which  amount  was  used  to  liquidate 
claims  made  or  to  be  made  on  account  of  disbursements  to 
members  prior  to  December  31st,  1880. 

All  the  salaries  of  the  secretary,  medical  inspectors,  clerks, 
and  all  other  expenses  of  the  association  are  borne  by  the  Balti- 
more and  Ohio  Company,  and  therefore  the  funds  of  the  associa- 
tion are  under  no  other  expense  than  for  the  payment  of  allow- 
ances to  members  and  physicians'  fees  for  attendance  upon 
disabled  members. 


108  SAM    HOBART. 

FINANCIAL  REPORT. — Between  May  1st,  1880,  and  December 
31st,  1880,  1685  claims  for  allowance  and  352  bills  for  medical 
attendance  were  paid,  the  whole  aggregating  $41,503.14  ;  and 
from  December  31st,  1880,  to  April  30th,  1881,  699  claims 
for  allowance  and  182  bills  for  attendance  of  physicians  were 
examined  and  paid,  amounting  to  $25,077.48,  making  a  total 
disbursement  of  one  year  of  $66,580.62. 

The  second  annual  report  of  the  secretary,  dated  October  1st, 
1882,  covered  a  period  of  twenty-one  months,  as  the  fiscal  year 
of  the  association  was  changed  so  as  to  correspond  with  the 
fiscal  year  of  the  Baltimore  and  Ohio  Company.  This  report 
shows  a  balance  on  hand,  December  31st,  1880,  of  $47,040.12, 
and  receipts  from  all  sources,  $345,088.30— $322,038.20  of  this 
amount  being  received  from  the  members  as  premiums.  The 
disbursements  for  the  same  period  were  $302,617.69,  leaving  a 
balance  of  $89,510.73,  and  six  months'  interest,  $2500,  mak- 
ing a  balance,  September  30th,  1882,  of  $92,010.73.  But  this 
amount  does  not  represent  the  actual  balance,  for  from  it  were 
to  be  deducted  $40,473.60  for  benefits  due  and  not  yet  paid, 
and  $21,424.46  insurance  reserve,  leaving  a  net  balance  of 
$30,112.67  ;  and  this  balance,  by  the  provisions  of  the  consti- 
tution, is  to  be  used  "  to  reduce  the  next  year's  contributions 
or  to  increase  the  allowance  for  natural  death  or  in  promoting 
the  interests  of  the  association/'  By  this  report  the  number 
of  members  of  the  association  is  stated  at  28,706,  embracing 
"  ninety-four  per  cent  of  all  employes  in  the  service." 

By  these  two  reports  the  association  has  paid  91  claims  of 
accidental  death,  amounting  to  $94,500  ;  189  claims  of  natural 
death,  amounting  to  $48,300  ;  3972  claims  of  disablement 
from  injuries,  amounting  to  $50,520.67  ;  2606  cases  of  physi- 
cians for  services  rendered  in  above  cases,  amounting  to  $20,- 
096.29,  and  9094  claims  from  disablements  by  sickness  or  in- 
juries not  received  in  discharge  of  duty,  amounting  to  $127,- 
689.39,  making  a  total  number  of  claims  examined  and  al- 
lowed of  15,952,  and  a  total  amount  paid  of  $341,106.35. 

The  affairs  of  the  association  are  controlled  by  a  committee 


THE   BROTHERHOOD   OF   LOCOMOTIVE   ENGINEERS.     109 

of  management,  which  includes  the  president  of  the  Baltimore 
and  Ohio  Company  and  nine  other  members,  four  appointed  by 
the  company  and  five  elected  by  the  contributors.  The  imme- 
diate management  is  under  the  control  of  a  secretary,  who  is 
elected  by  the  committee,  and  to  whom  all  the  business  of  the 
association  is  intrusted. 

SAVINGS  FUND  AND  BUILDING  FEATURES. — There  is  also  con- 
nected with  the  Relief  Association  another  feature  known  as 
"  The  Savings  Fund  and  Building  Features,"  whereby  all 
members  of  the  Relief  Association  or  their  families  may  deposit 
any  sum  over  $1  and  receive  interest  upon  it  at  the  rate  of  four 
per  cent  per  annum.  The  association  will  also  advance  to 
members  sums  ranging  from  $100  upward  at  the  rate  of  six  per 
cent  per  annum,  which  advances  can  only  be  used  for  the  pur- 
pose of  purchasing  or  building  homes.  The  Baltimore  and 
Ohio  Company  is  responsible  for  all  moneys  deposited,  as  also 
for  the  prompt  payment  of  the  interest  on  money  deposited. 
Every  subscriber  to  this  feature  is  provided  with  a  pass-book. 
When  he  wishes  to  make  a  deposit,  it  is  made  to  a  bonded 
agent  of  the  Baltimore  and  Ohio  Company,  and  when  the 
depositor  wishes  to  withdraw  money  he  draws  a  check  upon 
the  association  or  an  order  upon  the  secretary.  The  secretary 
furnishes  him  with  a  check  or  voucher,  which  is  payable  in  the 
same  manner  as  vouchers  for  sickness  or  disablements  in  the 
relief  features. 

The  company  also  extends  to  the  members  of  the  savings 
fund  who  wish  to  secure  homesteads  along  the  line  of  the  road 
or  improve  those  already  owned,  "  a  reduction  of  twenty-five 
per  cent  from  its  regular  rates  on  all  building  material  entering 
into  the  construction  or  improvements  of  such  homesteads  and 
on  all  household  effects. ' ' 

If  from  the  undefined  and  crude  hopes  of  the  engineer  strug- 
gling for  a  place  in  the  railroad  system,  such  a  system  could 
find  general  acceptance,  we  can  see  that  it  would  be  helpful  to 
the  many  and  injurious  to  none. 


CHAPTER  IX. 

THE  CONFLICT  BETWEEN  LABOR  AND  CAPITAL. 

The  Principle  that  ruled  his  Life  and  made  him  a  Blessing. 

SAM  was  in  a  tumult.  He  was  a  man  of  influence,  yet  he 
seemed  left  to  himself.  His  wife,  the  idol  of  his  heart,  was  in 
consumption.  His  hope  built  on  everything  else  than  Jesus' 
blood  and  righteousness  was  failing  him.  Masonry  brought 
him  but  little  comfort.  His  relations  with  workingmen  were 
not  satisfactory.  Sam  was  not  a  Communist  nor  a  Socialist  nor 
an  International.  He  was  an  engineer  on  the  Boston  and 
Albany  Railroad,  and  was  true  to  their  interest. 

It  is  said  that  a  drop  of  water  falling  into  a  bay  changes  the 
tide-currents  of  the  ocean,  and  that  the  sound  of  the  human 
voice  changed  into  echoes  passes  through  waves  of  air  and  dis- 
turbs the  condition  of  society  and  the  destinies  of  men.  Cer- 
tain it  is  that  the  conflicts  ravaging  Europe  produced  an 
impression  upon  the  minds  and  hearts  of  the  workingmen  in 
America.  Communism  was  in  the  air.  Agitation  was  the 
rule.  "  Organization "  and  "  combination"  were  the  talis- 
manic  words  ever  on  the  lips  of  the  discontented  and  the  ambi- 
tious. Sam  believed  in  doing  his  duty,  and  being  content  with 
filling  the  sphere  in  which  circumstances  placed  him.  On  one 
occasion,  when  in  a  company  of  workingmen,  one  had  con- 
tended that  the  engineers  and  brakemen  ought  to  share  in  the 
profits  of  the  road,  and  "  that  all  legalized  charter  corporations, 
such  as  railroad,  banking,  mining,  manufacturing,  gas,  etc., 
under  the  present  system  of  operation,  were  the  most  despotic 
and  heartless  enemies  of  the  working  classes  ;  that  their  acts  of 
tyranny  and  oppression  have  been  the  cause  of  demoralizing 


THE    CONFLICT   BETWEEN    LABOR    AND    CAPITAL.      Ill 

thousands  of  honest  workingmen,  thereby  driving  them  to  acts 
of  madness,  desperation,  and  crime. "  Sam  shouted  out, 
"  There,  you  have  copied  that  from  the  charter  of  the  i  Inter- 
nationals/ and  it  never  ought  to  be  permitted  to  take  root  in 
American  soil." 

"  You  are  too  late,"  said  another.      "  It  has  taken  root  in 
my  heart,  and  in  the  hearts  of  thousands  more." 

"  Go  slow,  boys,"  said  Sam,  with  that  pleasant  smile  which 
preceded  his  best  utterance^  as  the  lightning's  flash  precedes 
the  thunder's  roll.  Then  pulling  a  printed  slip  from  his  pocket, 
he  said  :  "  Here  are  the  words  that  our  young  friend  quoted, 
and  many  more  like  them.  In  it  we  are  earnestly  requested 
to  unite  as  speedily  as  possible  for  the  purpose  of  forming  a 
political  party,  based  on  the  natural  rights  of  labor.  lLet  us 
make  common  cause  against  a  common  enemy. '  These  are  dan- 
gerous words,"  said  Sam.  "  Dangerous  for  us  who  have  only 
our  labor  as  capital,  dangerous  for  our  employers  who  intrust 
their  capital  to  our  keeping.  This  avowal  reveals  the  milk  in 
the  cocoanut  and  deserves  to  be  pondered  and  condemned." 
Again  he  read  :  "  It  is  the  purpose  of  the  workingmen's  party 
to  confiscate,  through  legislation,  the  unjustly  gotten  wealth  of 
these  legalized  and  chartered  corporation  thieves  that  are  back- 
ed by  the  Shylocks  and  moneyed  syndicates  of  Europe  and 
this  country."  Then  folding  up  the  paper  he  looked  the  men 
in  the  eye  and  said  :  "  That  is  Communism.  That  means 
blood.  It  means  the  loss  of  confidence  on  the  part  of  the  em-  ' 
plovers  and  spending  the  strength  for  nought  on  the  part  of  the 
workingmen.  You  are  being  misled  by  agitators.  The  devil 
is  at  the  bottom  of  the  whole  business.  There  is  no  love  in  it, 
no  kindness,  no  honor.  It  is  pandering  to  the  worst  element 
in  our  natures,  and  no  one  knows  what  will  grow  out  of  it. 
They  have  just  gone  through  a  crisis  in  Europe.  The  result  is, 
thousands  of  the  dissatisfied  are  pouring  into  this  country.  The 
war  has  given  them  a  field  suited  to  their  bloodthirsty  natures. 
They  could  join  the  army,  though,  as  a  rule,  they  made  poor 
soldiers,  because  they  object  to  government  and  authority,  and 


112  SAM   HOBART. 

in  the  army  there  must  be  discipline.     Hence  they  desert,  take 
a  new  name,  and  become  bounty-jumpers. 

"  We  had  two  of  them  on  the  train  the  other  day.  For  a 
time  it  seemed  as  if  they  would  clean  out  the  officials  and  take 
possession." 

"  Tell  us  about  it,"  shouted  a  half  dozen  at  the  same  time. 

"  Well,"  said  Sam,  "  I  saw  then  what  it  was  to  contend  with 
an  unchained  devil.  They  had  boarded  the  train  at  Framing- 
ham.  The  conductor  came  to  collect  the  fare.  They  replied  : 

"  '  Guess  this  road  can  afford  to  carry  us  free.7 

"  '  Fare,  gentlemen,'  said  the  conductor. 

"  The  men  looked  up,  and  with  an  oath  told  him  to  go  to 
perdition.  The  conductor  called  a  brakeman,  and  demanded 
the  fare.  They  refused.  The  train  was  stopped,  and  they 
attempted  to  put  them  off.  Out  came  their  revolvers.  Then 
came  the  fight.  The  bell-rope  was  pulled.  The  engine  was 
stopped.  I  was  called  in.  There  was  a  train  full  of  passen- 
gers, frightened  and  helpless.  Every  one  was  afraid  of  being 
shot,  and  no  one  wanted  to  mix  in  the  fight.  The  conductor 
and  brakeman  were  being  beaten,  and  the  car  was  being  emptied 
of  men  and  women — " 

u  Well,  what  did  you  do?" 

"  I  took  hold  as  best  I  could,  and  saved  the  conductor's  life 
and  endangered  my  own.  One  of  the  men  I  threw  off  the  train 
in  a  disabled  condition,  and  the  other  we  took  to  Worcester 
and  locked  him  up.  Imagine  ten  thousand  such  desperadoes 
loose  in  a  town.  That  is  what  this  doctrine  of  the  Interna- 
tionals means,  and  the  time  will  come  when,  if  this  doctrine 
spreads,  America  will  have  trouble.  I  am  in  sympathy  with  the 
words  posted  on  the  gate  where  a  crowd  of  these  workingmen, 
so  called,  were  to  assemble  to  listen  to  inflammatory  appeals. 

1  Stand  still  where  you  are,'  said  the  paper,  '  and  think 
before  going  further  in  this  path  of  danger.  An  hour's  work 
may  cost  millions  of  money  and  hundreds  of  lives.  All  the 
•lives  lost  will  not  be  on  one  side  only,  and  the  money  will  come 
back  on  the  people  to  be  paid  out  of  the  taxes  to  be  imposed 


THE   CONFLICT   BETWEEN   LABOR   AND   CAPITAL.      113 

on  all.  Powder  burns  more  than  one  hand  when  it  is  used. 
Keep  on  the  side  of  law,  and  keep  the  law  on  the  side  of 
laborers.  If  they  want  to  right  their  wrongs,  they  must  keep  in 
the  path  of  right. '  This  is  true.  There  is  a  great  deal  of  talk 
about  capital  being  the  enemy  of  labor.  That  is  not  true. 
Capital  and  labor  must  work  together.  The  capitalist  and  the 
laborer  are  partners  now  in  business,  and  it  requires  good  faith 
on  both  sides  to  make  business  profitable.  Neither  prospers 
alone.  It  is  my  faith,  men,  that  we  should  beware  of  men  who 
talk  violence,  riot,  and  bloodshed." 

"  Are  you  not  a  member  of  the  Brotherhood  of  Locomotive 
Engineers  ?" 

"/a**" 

"  Would  you  as  an  engineer  give  up  your  engine  if  ordered 
to  do  so  for  the  good  of  the  Order  ?" 

"  What  !  betray  a  company  that  took  me  when  a  boy  into 
their  employ,  and  have  brought  me  up  and  opened  every  path 
of  promotion  and  prosperity  to  me,  treating  me  with  uniform 
kindness  from  the  first  to  the  present  ?  Would  I  leave  this 
company's  interests  to  be  sacrificed  and  join  a  party  determined 
to  make  war  upon  them  because  of  the  behest  of  some  one  at  a 
distance  ?  /  would  not. ' ' 

"  Then  you  are  not  worthy  to  belong  to  the  Order. " 

"  /  am,"  said  Sam.  "  My  reason  for  saying  so  is  this  :  A 
man  must  be  true  to  the  trust  given  him  if  he  would  be  of 
value  anywhere.  Some  claim  because  I  am  a  Mason  that  I  am 
bound  to  do  wrong.  I  would  not  do  wrong  for  Masonry, 
knowingly,  nor  for  anything  else.  A  false  man  is  never  a  true 
man.  In  joining  the  Brotherhood  I  joined  to  help  my  fellow- 
craftsmen,  not  to  injure  the  company.  It  is  my  faith  that  the 
better  engineers  we  are,  the  more  value  we  are  to  the  company. 
If  we  let  go  of  this  purpose  we  are  lost.  It  seems  to  me  that 
you  are  all  in  peril.  At  times  I  have  been  under  conviction. 
Those  words  of  the  preacher  in  his  sermon  to  us  still  ring  in 
my  ears,  '  Accept  Jesus  Christ  as  the  way,  the  truth,  and  the 
life.  Jesus  was  true  to  God  and  true  to  men.  Whoever 


114  SAM    HOBART. 

accepts  the  guidance  of  this  light  entereth  a  path  which  shall 
grow  brighter  and  brighter  unto  the  perfect  day.  Do  this  for 
the  world's  sake  as  well  as  your  own.'  ' 

"  You  a  preacher,  Sara  ?'  " 

"  No  ;  but  I  am  thinking  that  we  are  treading  very  close  to 
danger.  The  best  way  for  us  is  to  work  on,  keep  the  wheels 
moving,  and  avoid  everything  that  makes  an  unfriendly  feeling 
with  those  who  have  all  the  risks  of  business  both  for  them- 
selves and  for  workingrnen.  Turn  away  from  bad  advisers,  and 
above  all,  don't  unchain  the  tiger. " 

These  words  cost  him  much  sorrow  of  heart.  The  isolation 
of  a  man  that  will  not  bow  down  to  the  image  set  up  by  other 
hands,  gets  into  trouble  in  Boston  as  in  Babylon,  where,  be- 
cause of  such  a  refusal,  Daniel  was  cast  into  the  lion's  den. 

Sam's  apprehensions  were  well  founded.  It  was  in  1866 
when  these  words  were  spoken.  He  had  defined  his  position. 
He  stood  with  the  men  who  stood  with  him. 

Let  us  close  this  chapter  by  quoting  from  "  The  Annals  of 
the  Great  Strikes  in  the  United  States,"  by  Hon.  J.  A.  Dacus, 
Ph.D.,  in  which  the  battle  between  capital  and  labor  of  1877 
is  described.  Truly  did  he  say  the  events  where  phenomenal. 

"  A  republic  still  regarded  in  the  light  of  an  experiment,  hav- 
ing lately  terminated  a  long  and  fierce  sectional  conflict  by  en- 
gaging in  one  of  the  greatest  wars  of  modern  times  ;  having 
achieved  order,  reconciliation,  and  peace  between  all  sections  ; 
having  demonstrated  the  greatness  and  magnanimity  of  the 
people  ;  having  extorted  from  the  enemies  of  liberal  institutions 
acknowledgments  that  self-government  was  a  possibility  ;  hav- 
ing accomplished  all  these  things,  this  republic  suddenly  startles 
the  world,  drowns  the  noise  of  strife  on  the  Bulgarian  plains 
and  among  the  Balkans,  and  draws  exclusive  attention  to  a 
social  emeute  on  this  side  of  the  Atlantic,  unparalleled  in  the 
annals  of  time."  .  .  . 

11  Sudden  as  a  thunderburst  from  a  clear  sky  the  crisis  came 
upon  the  country.  Hundreds  of  thousands  of  men  belonging 
to  the  laboring  classes,  alleging  that  they  were  wronged  and 


THE   CONFLICT    BETWEEN    LABOR    AND    CAPITAL.      115 

oppressed,  ceased  to  work,  seized  railroads,  closed  factories, 
foundries,  shops,  and  mills,  and  laid  a  complete  embargo  on 
all  internal  commerce,  interrupted  travel,  and  bid  defiance  to 
the  ordinary  instrument  of  legal  authority.  Commencing  at 
Camden  Station,  Baltimore,  July  17th,  1877,  and  at  Martins- 
burgh,  West  Virginia,  in  three  days  the  movement  had  extended 
to  Pittsburgh,  Newark,  Ohio,  Hornelisville,  N.  Y.,  Fort  Wayne 
Ind.,  and  a  hundred  other  -points.  State  militia  forces  were 
encountered  and  repelled.  The  whole  country  seemed  stricken 
by  a  profound  dread  of  impending  rum.  In  the  large  cities 
the  cause  of  the  strikers  was  espoused  by  a  nondescript  class  of 
the  idle,  the  vicious,  the  visionary,  and  the  whole  rabble  of  the 
pariahs  of  society.  No  standing  army  was  available,  and  these 
classes  absolutely  controlled  the  country." 

PITTSBURGH    IN    THE    HANDS    OF    THE    MOB. 

Without  attempting  to  give  a  history  of  the  strike,  let  us,  as 
an  illustration  of  the  manner  in  which  Sam's  forebodings  were 
realized,  glean  some  of  these  terrible  facts  from  the  narrative. 
"  At  noon  Friday,  July  20th,  the  strikers  and  other  workingtnen 
held  a  meeting  in  the  yards  of  the  Pennsylvania  Railroad  Com- 
pany, which  was  attended  by  a  vast  crowd  of  people.  Then  the 
State  militia  came  in  and  took  their  places  along  the  tracks. 
The  citizens  of  Pittsburgh  as  a  mass  were  decided  in  expres- 
sions of  sympathy  with  the  strikers.  The  spirit  of  the  Inter- 
nationals was  revelling  in  fiendish  delight.  Women  taunted 
soldiers  and  encouraged  the  canaille  to  deeds  of  violence.  It 
was  a  repetition  of  the  scenes  witnessed  in  Paris,  in  those  terri- 
ble days  when  the  Commune  rose  in  1871,  only  on  a  less  scale. 
It  was  a  new  experience  to  meet  with  women  in  mobs.  But 
they  were  abroad  now,  and  exerted  an  influence  for  evil  that 
can  scarcely  be  estimated.  All  night  the  uproar  was  contin- 
ued. Pittsburgh  was  fast  becoming  drunk  with  passion — dark, 
unrelenting,  devilish  passion,  that  would  hesitate  to  commit  no 
crime,  shrink  not  from  any  deed  of  horror.  .  ,  .  The  law- 


116  SAM   HOBART. 

abiding  citizens  were  in  a  state  of  alarm  and  trepidation.  '  They 
stood,'  in  the  language  of  Statins,  '  in  silent  astonishment, 
and  waited  for  the  fall  of  the  yet  doubtful  thunderbolt. '  But 
the  surging  masses  of  the  strikers  and  the  mob  were  neither 
silent  nor  astonished.  They  neither  knew  when,  nor  cared 
how,  the  impending  bolt  would  fall.  Vast  multitudes  of  men 
of  the  lowest  character,  largely  of  boys  from  sixteen  to  twenty, 
actuated  by  the  most  brutal  passions,  were  assembled  for  the 
sole  purpose  of  inaugurating  a  reign  of  terror  among  the  people, 
and  to  light  the  torch  of  destruction  in  the  city.  Clamoring 
for  a  redress  of  grievances  which  they  were  unable  to  formulate 
or  distinctly  specify,  the  mighty  throngs  of  uneasy  spirits  who 
had  been  called  into  action  in  consequence  of  the  railroad 
strikes,  were  preparing  to  commit  the  most  heinous  crimes 
against  the  peace  and  order  of  society.  These  men  had  no 
grievances  to  be  redressed.  They  were  the  vagrants  of  our 
modern  social  organization.  They  prated  of  the  downfall  of 
liberty,  when  in  truth  they  did  not  have  a  comprehension  of  the 
meaning  of  the  word.  Liberty  is  a  proud  spirit  ;  it  regards 
government  as  the  true  instrument  of  human  happiness,  and  re- 
sists it  only  when  it  becomes  manifestly  prejudicial  to  happi- 
ness. It  is  consistent  with  a  sense  of  duty  and  a  willingness  to 
bear  just  restraint,  and  uncombined  with  these  it  achieves  noth- 
ing lasting. 

"  It  was  an  hour  fraught  with  momentous  events.  A  city  con- 
taining a  population  of  more  than  120,000  was  without  law,  in 
the  complete  possession  of  a  vast  mob,  armed,  vindictive,  and 
cruel.  The  demoniac  yells,  the  laud  profanity,  the  terrible 
threats,  were  united  to  swell  the  awful  volume  of  angry  noises. 
It  seemed  as  if  the  infernal  regions  had  been  emptied  of  its 
myriads  of  fiends,  who  were  released  for  the  purpose  of  enact- 
ing on  earth  the  orgies  of  hell.  Men,  women,  old  and  young, 
high  and  low,  both  sexes,  all  conditions,  all  orders,  all  classes 
in  life,  came  forth  and  joined  the  angry,  surging  tide  of 
humanity  that  incessantly  ebbed  and  flowed  through  the  streets 
of  the  fated  city. 


THE   CONFLICT   BETWEEN   LABOR   AND    CAPITAL.      117 

The  strikers  were  resolute  and  determined.  But  the  chief 
danger  was  in  the  presence  of  an  immense  number  of  vagrants 
and  tramps,  idle  miners  and  roughs  of  every  character. 
Strange  to  say,  there  was  a  large  element  in  the  population  of 
Pittsburgh,  who  had  the  reputation  of  being  respectable  people 
— tradesmen,  householders,  well-to-do  mechanics  and  such — 
who  were  witnesses  of  the  progress  of  the  turbulent  mob,  and 
who  not  only  did  not  protest  against  their  proceedings,  but 
openly  mingled  with  them  and  encouraged  them  to  commit 
deeds  of  violence. 

"  Stores  full  of  arms  had  been  burst  open  and  robbed.  Whis- 
key flowed  in  streams,  and  men  and  women  drank  to  their  fill. 
Immense  amounts  of  valuable  property,  arrested  in  transit,  filled 
long  lines  of  freight  cars  on  the  railway  tracks  and  were 
burned.  Splendid  stores  and  luxuriously  appointed  mansions 
were  all  placed  at  the  mercy  of  a  mob  which  had  set  law  at 
defiance.  Municipal  government  was  at  an  end,  police 
authority  despised,  and  even  the  government  of  a  great  State 
openly  defied. 

THE    STORM    BURSTS. 

"It  was  half  past  one  o'clock  Sunday  morning,  July  22d, 
when  the  fire-bells  rang  out  ;  the  awful  announcement  was 
made  that  the  depot  and  cars  and  city  were  being  fired.  The 
militia  were  driven  out  of  the  city.  The  machine-shop,  eleva- 
tors, car- sheds  filled  with  freight  cars,  the  great  hotels  were  on 
fire. 

"  About  noon  Sunday  a  mass-meeting  of  citizens  was  called 
and  a  committee  composed  of  bishops,  clergymen,  and  others 
was  appointed  to  confer  with  the  mob.  They  would  not  hear 
them.  The  property  of  the  Pennsylvania  Railroad  Company 
was  being  wholly  consumed,  and  the  mob  would  not  allow  one 
drop  of  water  to  be  thrown  upon  the  burning,  seething  mass. 
Then  the  work  of  pillage  began.  Cars  were  broken  open  and 
every  one  helped  themselves  as  they  desired.  Fat  Irishwomen 
were  seen  carrying  a  pair  of  white  slippers  suited  to  a  delicate 


118  SAM   HOBART. 

lady  ;  another  would  roll  a  barrel  of  flour  along  the  sidewalk  ; 
boys  hurried  through  the  crowd  with  large-sized  family  Bibles 
as  their  share  of  the  plunder,  while  scores  of  females  took  and 
carried  off  whatever  they  could  lay  their  hands  on,  without 
regard  to  utility,  and  thus  it  went  on  until  at  last  the  citizens 
arose,  formed  a  vigilance  committee,  and  prevented  further 
incendiarism.  The  reign  of  the  mob  was  over.  It  came  to  all 
that  hell  was  not  paradise.  The  citizens  who  were  in  sympa- 
thy with  the  strikers  at  the  outset  had  been  alienated  from 
them  by  the  deeds  of  the  communistic  mob,  and  the  revulsion 
was  so  marked  and  so  dangerous  in  its  symptoms  that  the  law- 
breakers naturally  felt  alarmed.  Thus  this  spirit  of  violence 
sped  westward.  In  Kansas  City,  Mo.,  reason  resumed  its 
sway,  and  at  a  meeting  held  on  July  24th,  between  the  execu- 
tive committee  appointed  by  the  strikers  and  the  arbitration 
committee,  the  strikers  passed  a  resolution  declaring  their  de- 
sire to  see  business  resumed  on  all  the  railroads  throughout  the 
land,  and  expressing  confidence  in  the  justice  and  fair-minded- 
ness of  the  railroad  managers,  and  declaring  their  readiness  to 
resume  work  ;  and  so  the  strike  which  began  without  reason 
ended  without  redress  of  injuries  or  advancement  of  wages." 

Had  Sam's  advice  been  taken  when  he  plead  for  brotherhood 
among  engineers  and  for  respect  of  property  and  law,  this 
strike  had  been  avoided. 

The  charge  is  made  that  Colonel  Thomas  A.  Scott  was  re- 
sponsible for  the  destruction  of  property  at  Pittsburgh.  ' i  He 
could/'  says  a  writer,  "  have  arrested  the  progress  of  the 
strike  ;  he  could  have  ended  the  conflict  ;  he  could  have 
calmed  the  rising  storm  of  heated  passion  ;  he  could  have 
swept  away  the  volumes  of  human  misery  that  were  rolling  on  ; 
he  could  have  extinguished  the  little  flame  that  threatened  to 
become  a  conflagration  ;  aye,  with  a  word  he  could  have  stayed 
the  stroke  of  the  angel  of  death  which  waited  to  descend  upon 
scores  of  wretched  beings,  driven  by  hunger  to  desperation. 
But  he  would  not."  That  is  one  side.  Let  us  behold  the 
other.  In  a  letter  published  in  the  New  York  Herald  July 


THE   CONFLICT   BETWEEN   LABOR   AND   CAPITAL.      119 

25th,  1877,  he  says  :  "  I  see  an  account  of  an  interview  with 
P.  M.  Arthur,  of  the  Brotherhood  of  Locomotive  Engineers,  in 
which  he  states  that  if  Thomas  A.  Scott  had  gone  himself  to 
Pittsburgh,  bloodshed  and  arson  would  have  been  averted. 
4  Whenever  the  officers  of  a  road  have  met  the  Brotherhood  and 
have  evinced  a  disposition  to  treat  with  us,  we  have  had  no 
strike  ;  it  is  only  whenever  they  have  refused  to  arbitrate  with 
us  that  we  have  had  a  strike  as  the  only  means  of  redress.'  ' 

"  In  response  to  this  permit  me  to  say,"  said  Thomas  A. 
Scott,  "  that  this  whole  statement  is  most  unfair  to  me  and  the 
company.  The  first  intimation  of  this  strike  was  given  me 
after  I  had  retired  for  the  night  at  a  point  on  the  Delaware 
River  twenty  miles  from  Philadelphia,  and  the  strike  was  in- 
augurated without  any  attempt  to  have  a  conference  with  the 
officers  of  the  company.  So  much  was  this  the  case  that  the 
Superintendent  of  the  Pittsburgh  Division  had  started  East 
with  his  family  and  was  on  his  way  to  Altoona,  where  the 
strike  took  place,  and  the  trains  of  the  company  were  stopped. 
.  .  .  At  all  times  and  under  all  circumstances,  when  the 
men  in  the  service  of  our  company  have  come  to  meet  the 
officers  of  the  road  for  conference  they  have  been  promptly 
and  courteously  met.  It  is  not  more  than  a  month  since  a 
large  delegation  of  the  Brotherhood  of  Locomotive  Engineers 
had  a  conference  with  me  at  the  office  in  this  city,  where  every- 
thing pertaining  to  the  question  of  reduction  was  fully  dis- 
cussed, the  result  of  which  was  that  the  men,  representing,  as 
they  stated  to  me,  the  engineers  and  firemen,  addressed  me  a 
letter  stating  that  the  reason  given  for  the  reduction  of  wages 
caused  by  the  great  depression  of  the  business  of  the  country 
was  entirely  satisfactory  to  them,  and  that  they  would  stand 
thoroughly  and  firmly  by  the  company." 

This  proves,  as  Sam  delighted  to  say,  that  there  was  no 
trouble  in  getting  on  with  employers,  if  employes  would 
remember  that  the  interests  of  capital  and  labor  are  identical, 
and  that  men  occupying  positions  of  responsibility  have  often- 
times more  trouble  than  those  whose  responsibilities  are  less. 


120  SAM    HOB  ART. 

The  riot  at  Pittsburgh  and  the  disasters  which  came  upon  the 
Pennsylvania  Railroad  Company  broke  the  heart  of  President 
Scott.  It  is  said  that  when  he  visited  the  Iron  City  after  the 
calamities  had  come  upon  it,  as  he  rode  through  the  streets  he 
wept  like  a  child,  and  exclaimed,  "This  is  enough  to  break  one's 
faith  in  human  nature."  The  iron  entered  his  soul.  He  was 
never  the  same  man  after  it.  He  who  had  served  the  nation 
as  assistant  secretary  of  war  and  had  revealed  traits  of  character 
so  invaluable  that  the  nation  without  him  would  have  been 
poor,  and  who  had  built  up  the  Pennsylvania  Railroad  and 
planned  connections  for  it  through  the  south  and  west,  which 
made  it  a  felt  power  in  the  nation,  saw  in  the  four  million  of 
dollars  of  property  consumed  because  of  the  lawlessness  of  men 
that  which  blocked  the  path  to  enterprise  and  put  far  off  the 
consummation  of  the  hopes  of  which  he  had  dreamed  and  for 
which  he  had  toiled. 

THE    FAITH    OF    WILLIAM    H.     VANDERBILT    REWARDED. 

On  the  New  York  Central  Railroad  every  effort  was  made  to 
induce  the  employes  to  swerve  from  their  loyalty  and  surrender 
to  the  communistic  spirit  of  the  hour.  Those  who  remember 
the  faith  of  William  H.  Vanderbilt,  the  president  of  the  road, 
in  the  men  who  worked  it,  will  recall  how  he  stood  almost 
alone  in  the  nation,  unshaken  in  purpose  and  undismayed  by 
disaster.  Though  commerce  was  arrested  and  industry  para- 
lyzed and  property  was  being  reduced  in  value  or  rendered 
utterly  worthless,  he  remained  uncompromising  and  firm. 
Henry  George  in  "  Progress  and  Poverty,"  p.  84,  described 
the  condition  of  affairs  when  he  said  :  u  A  strike,  which  is  the 
only  recourse  by  which  a  trades-union  can  enfore  its  demands, 
is  a  destructive  contest  ;  just  such  a  contest  as  that  to  which  an 
eccentric  called  the  i  Money  King'  once  in  the  early  days  of 
San  Francisco  challenged  a  man  who  had  taunted  him  with 
meanness,  that  they  should  go  down  to  the  wharf  and  alternately 
toss  twenty-dollar  gold  pieces  into  the  bay  until  one  gave  in. 
The  struggle  of  endurance  involved  in  a  strike  is  really  what  it 


THE    CONFLICT    BETWEEN    LABOR    AND    CAPITAL.      121 

has  often  been  compared  to — a  war  ;  and  like  all  war  it  lessens 
wealth.  And  the  organization  for  it  must,  like  the  organiza- 
tion for  war,  be  tyrannical.  As  even  the  man  who  lights  for 
freedom  must,  when  he  enters  an  army,  give  up  his  personal 
freedom  and  become  a  mere  part  in  a  great  machine,  so  must 
it  be  with  workmen  who  organize  for  a  strike.  These  combina- 
tions aTe,  therefore,  necessarily  destructive  of  the  very  things 
which  workmen  seek  to  gain  through  them — wealth  and  free- 
dom. "  Every  one  saw  this  truth  standing  forth  in  startling 
proportions.  Peril  was  in  the  air.  The  country  became 
alarmed.  The  trunk  line  of  the  Pennsylvania  Road  was 
broken.  The  Erie  Road  was  in  the  hands  of  the  mob.  So 
was  the  Baltimore  and  Ohio.  Let  the  New  York  Central  go 
and  all  was  gone.  New  York,  Philadelphia,  and  even  Washing- 
ton were  at  the  mercy  of  men  without  character,  without  prop- 
erty, without  responsibility.  William  II.  Vanderbilt  saw  the 
peril  and  stood  like  a  rock  in  mid-ocean,  undaunted  and  undis- 
turbed by  the  wild  waves  of  riot  that  threatened  him.  It  was 
then  proven  that  nothing  is  so  great  as  greatness,  and  nothing 
is  so  small  as  smallness.  As  in  the  days  when  John  Jacob 
Astor  was  in  the  zenith  of  his  power,  men  came  to  him  and  de- 
manded that  he  should  divide  his  property  with  the  mob.  His 
reply  was,  "  That  would  do  you  no  good.  You  don't  know 
enough  to  keep  wealth  if  you  had  it.  I  should  get  it  back  in  a 
little  time,  if  I  gave  it  to  you.  I  am  now  but  your  agent,  and  I 
am  doing  the  work  so  well  that  I  keep  the  wolf  from  your  door. 
You  had  better  let  me  alone.  You  will  make  by  it. "  The  old 
man  spoke  wisely.  So  William  II.  Vanderbilt  grasped  the 
situation  and  became  the  big  brother  of  the  concern.  While 
Pittsburgh  was  in  flames  and  the  riot  was  in  progress,  William 
II.  Vanderbilt  telegraphed  his  superintendent,  J.  Wr.  Tilling- 
hast,  then  in  Buffalo,  saying  :  "  I  have  every  confidence  in  the 
good  sense  and  stability  of  a  large  majority  of  our  employes. 
The  whole  country  is  now  looking  most  anxiously  on  them,  and 
I  feel  confident  that  they  will  sustain  their  reputation  and  that 
of  the  road  by  making  common  cause  ;  having  the  fullest 


122  SAM   HOBART. 

assurance  that  when  the  business  of  the  country  will  justify  it, 
they  will  receive  compensation  accordingly." 

Z,  C.  Priest  telegraphed  that  "  on  the  Eastern  Division  a  large 
majority  are  well  informed  and  have  a  reputation  they  do  not 
wish  to  tarnish."  This  faith  held  them.  President  Vander- 
bilt  was  at  Saratoga  and  stood  firm.  July  23d  came.  Though 
his  men  had  been  driven  out  from  their  shop  and  the  demand 
had  been  made  for  a  restoration  of  the  former  rate  of  wages,  he 
said,  u  The  proposition  could  not  be  entertained  for  a  moment. 
The  owners  of  the  road  could  not  consent  to  let  the  employes 
manage  it."  <5  There  is  a  great  principle  involved  in  this 
matter,"  said  Mr.  Vanderbilt,  "  and  we  cannot  afford  to  yield, 
and  the  country  cannot  afford  to  have  us  yield."  "  I  put 
great  confidence  in  our  men.  There  is  a  perfect  understanding 
between  the  heads  of  departments  and  the  employes,  and  they 
appreciate,  I  think,  so  thoroughly  the  identity  of  interest  be- 
tween themselves  and  us  that  I  cannot  for  a  moment  believe 
they  will  have  any  part  in  this  business.  I  am  proud  of  the 
men  of  the  Central  Road,  and  my  groat  trust  in  them  is 
founded  on  their  intelligent  appreciation  of  the  business  situa- 
tion at  the  present  time.  If  they  shall  stand  firm  in  the  present 
crisis  it  will  be  a  triumph  of  good  sense  over  blind  fury  and 
fanaticism.  Our  business  relations  with  all  our  men  on  the 
Central  are  shaped,  as  they  fully  understand,  by  the  emergen- 
cies of  the  business  situation.  Their  hope,  like  ours,  is  for 
better  times.  We  have  simply  done  what  wo  have  been 
obliged  to  do,  and  they  comprehend  this  thoroughly." 
"  In  case  of  trouble,  what  then,  Mr.  Vanderbilt  ?" 
"  We  shall  run  trains  just  as  long  as  the  public  authorities 
afford  us  protection  from  desperadoes.  The  railroad  is  an  in-  , 
stitution  for  the  accommodation  of  the  public,  and  as  such  is 
entitled  to  public  protection.  When  we  can  no  longer  run  our 
trains  we  shall  close  our  shop,  but  we  shall  control  our  roads 
so  long  as  we  run  them.  No  demand  made  in  a  juncture  like 
the  present  or  accompanied  by  a  display  of  force  or  intimida- 
tion, will  receive  any  consideration  at  our  hands,  and  so  far  as 


THE   CONFLICT   BETWEEN   LABOR    AXD    CAPITAL.      123 

the  Central  is  concerned  we  do  not  expect  any  trouble.  The 
persons,  I  notice,  who  are  doing  much  of  the  mischief 'are  not 
railroad  men  at  all,  and  I  expect  that  our  Central  employes 
would  defend  the  property  of  the  railroad  rather  than  take 
sides  with  the  rioters.  They  are  men  generally  who  are  proud 
of  their  road,  and  whose  instinct  would  lead  them  to  fight  for 
It  rather  than  against  it."  Notwithstanding  there  was  said  to 
be  a  strike,  Mr.  Yanderbilt  did  not  believe  it.  He  stood  by 
the  men  and  said,  u  I  am  not  informed  of  any  strike  on  the 
part  of  Central  employes.  They  had  been  driven  out  of  tho 
shop  by  a  crowd  of  rioters  and  had  been  forced  to  stop  work. 
That  was  all  there  was  of  it." 

REPORTER.  li  What  about  the  demand  for  an  increase  of 
twenty-five  per  cent  in  wages  ?" 

MR.  VANDERBILT.  "  I  have  received  no  such  demand  from 
the  men  of  the  Central.  A  despatch  was  received  last  night 
embracing  something  of  the  sort,  but  I  would  not  insult  the 
men  of  the  Central  by  attributing  it  to  them.  He  believed 
that  the  rioters  belonged  to  the  communistic  classes  who  were 
determined  to  pillage  and  destroy,  and  the  government  must 
protect  business.  He  still  had  confidence  in  his  men.*  The 
conditions  of  law  and  order  are  to  be  sought  for.  The  entire 

*  As  the  proof-sheets  of  this  book  come  before  me  I  read  on  this 
May  3d,  1883,  the  story  of  his  retirement  from  the  position  of  rail- 
way president,  after  expressing  his  sincere  thanks  to  all  the  employes 
of  the  different  companies  for  the  assistance  and  co-operation  they 
have  rendered  him  in  the  performance  of  his  dnties,  and  the  following 
timely  words  of  regret  from  the  directors  associated  with  him  : 
Resolved,  That  the  directors  learn  with  regret  the  determination  of 
William  H.  Vanderbilt  to  no  longer  act  as  president  of  the  company. 
For  nineteen  years  his  administration— first  of  the  Hudson  Kiver  Rail- 
road Company  and  subsequently  of  the  consolidated  New  York  Cen- 
tral and  Hudson  River  corporation — has  met  the  unanimous  approval 
of  the  stockholders.  The  record  shows  a  business  success  unexam- 
pled in  the  management  of  companies  of  this  character,  due  mainly 
to  the  skill  and  fidelity  with  which  he  has  conducted  the  affairs  of  the 
corporations. 


124  SAM   HOBART. 

difficulty  springs  from  outsiders,  and  should  be  so  dealt 
with." 

The  country  became  alarmed.  Chicago,  St.  Louis,  Pittsburgh, 
and  Baltimore  had  been  terrorized  and  threatened  by  the  mob. 
In  the  mean  time  the  inhabitants  of  the  great  cities  saw  that  the 
public  was  quite  as  dependent  upon  the  railroads  as  the  rail- 
roads were  upon  the  public.  The  famine  of  India  would  be 
reproduced  in  America  in  four  weeks  if  the  lines  of  railways 
were  broken.  They  hold  the  keys  to  our  warehouses.  They 
control  our  supplies  of  fuel  and  food.  Sam  Hobart  saw  it  in 
1867.  Everybody  saw  in  1877  that  if  the  capabilities  of  the 
railroads  were  destroyed,  in  a  short  time  bread  riots,  starvation, 
bloodshed,  carnage,  and  suffering  would  become  terrible  facts. 
Hence  all  breathed  freer  when  the  words,  ' '  The  strike  is 
ended,"  were  seen  on  the  head-lines,  and  it  was  known  that 
danger  was  averted  for  the  moment.  It  might  spring  up  again 
any  moment.  Confidence  in  employers  and  in  employes  was  a 
necessity,  and  the  religion  of  Christ  can  alone  meet  this  felt 
want. 

Among  the  utterances  Sam  delighted  to  quote  was  this  : 
"  One  set  informs  the  world  that  it  is  to  be  regenerated  by 
cheap  bread,  free  trade,  and  that  peculiar  form  of  the  freedom 
of  industry  which  in  plain  language  signifies,  '  the  despotism 
of  capital '  and  which,  whatever  it  means,  is  merely  some  out- 
ward system,  circumstance  or  *  dodge  '  about  man  and  not  in 
him.  Another  party's  nostrum  is  more  churches,  more  schools, 
more  clergymen — excellent  things  in  their  way,  better  things 
than  cheap  bread  or  free  trade,  provided  only  that  they  are  ex- 
cellent— that  the  churches,  schools,  clergymen,  are  good  ones. 
For  my  part,  I  seem  to  have  learned  that  the  only  thing  to 
regenerate  the  world  is  not  more  of  any  system,  good  or  bad, 
but  simply  more  of  the  Spirit  of  God." 

Though  when  the  storm  broke  upon  the  land  Sam  Hobart 
was  in  his  grave,  it  is  apparent  that  had  he  been  in  health  and 
strength  he  would  have  been  a  peacemaker  between  employers 
and  employed,  and  if  peace  had  been  impossible  he  would 


THE   CONFLICT   BETWEEN   LABOR   AND   CAPITAL.      125 

have  stood  with  those  who  stood  with  him  and  who  leaned 
upon  him  with  assuring  confidence,  as  the  men  of  the  New  York 
Central  stood  with  Mr.  Vanderbilt.  Such  men  are  invaluable 
at  any  time  and  in  any  place.  On  men  thus  principled  busi- 
ness interests  rest  with  assuring  confidence,  and  to  them  rewards 
for  well-doing  come  in  time  and  in  eternity. 


CHAPTER   X. 

THE    REPRESENTATIVES    OF     OUR     COMMERCIAL    LIFE — THEIR 
OPPORTUNITY. 

ENOUGH  is  not  made  of  the  men  who  bear  the  burdens  of  our 
commercial  life.  They  are  the  "  epistles"  of  the  nation,  known 
and  read  of  all  men.  They  are  composed  of  employers  and  of 
employed.  Of  men  who  produce,  whether  in  the  factory  or  in 
the  field,  and  who  handle  commodities,  whether  in  the  store,  in 
the  warehouse,  or  on  the  thoroughfares  of  transportation  and 
exchange.  All  are  linked  together.  Try  as  much  as  men 
choose,  it  is  found  that  society  is  composed  of  a  system  of 
mutual  interdependence.  The  president  of  the  railroad  and 
the  switch-tender,  the  engineer  and  the  fireman,  the  conductor 
and  the  brakeman,  the  manufacturer  and  the  operator,  the 
people  who  buy  and  the  people  who  sell,  the  people  who  raise 
grain  and  they  who  eat  it,  are  identified  in  interest.  This 
truth  we  are  apt  to  forget.  Ever  and  anon  Providence  lifts  the 
cover  off  from  society,  and  humanity  stands  unroofed  before  the 
people  as  it  always  is  before  God.  We  see  the  palpitating 
heart,  the  active  brain,  the  implacable  will,  and  get  conceptions 
of  the  forces  which  influence,  mould,  and  fashion  the  destinies 
of  men.  We  look  down  into  depths  of  struggle,  of  strife,  of 
poverty,  of  trial,  of  wearying  care,  of  distress,  of  perplexity, 
and  of  doubt,  of  which  we  had  no  conception.  Every  individ- 
ual knows  much  about  his  own  troubles,  but  he  knows  very 
little  of  those  which  beset  and  give  distress  to  his  neighbor. 

It  is  natural  for  all  to  think  much  of  their  own  cares  and  not 
to  think  of  those  which  come  to  their  neighbors. 

The  sorrows  of  the  poor  are  on  the  world's  broad  tongue. 
They  can  be  heard.  Society's  ear  is  open  to  them.  The  press 


REPRESENTATIVES   OF   OUR   COMMERCIAL   LIFE.       127 

voices  their  murmurs  and  articulates  their  distress.  At  times 
the  opinion  prevails  that  there  are  no  other  sorrows  except 
those  endured  by  the  struggling  sons  of  toil.  Few  think  of 
the  sorrows  of  the  rich.  Little  is  said  about  the  perplexities 
of  the  employer.  We  forget  that  capitalists  are  compelled  to 
contend  with  capitalists  as  man  contends  with  his  fellow. 
That  a  railroad  president,  representing  millions  of  money  and 
thousands  of  men  who  seek  employment  and  stock  held  as  a 
chief  dependence  by  widows  and  orphans,  is  compelled  to  cope 
with  another  president  as  an  individual  and  as  the  head  of  a 
rival  corporation,  while  at  the  same  time  he  is  under  obliga- 
tions to  protect  the  interests  of  stockholders  as  though  he  was 
personally  interested  in  their  individual  profits  and  losses. 
Who  ever  thinks  of  the  cares  that  infest  the  rich,  that  rob  them 
of  rest,  and  that  fill  them  with  anxiety,  more  because  of  those 
dependent  upon  them  than  because  of  themselves  ?  And  yet 
these  men  who  stand  at  the  head  of  affairs  in  banks,  in  stores, 
in  factories,  in  railroads,  and  in  numberless  other  positions  of 
trust,  are  our  epistles  as  much  as  are  the  men  who  march  in 
trades- unions  or  who  clamor  against  a  fall  in  wages. 

This  society  forgets,  and  yet  it  deserves  to  be  remembered, 
that  the  helpless  may  be  helped,  the  wants  of  the  needy  sup- 
plied, energies  directed,  and  efforts  to  better  one's  condition 
encouraged.  It  is  often  said  that  Christianity  and  trade  do  not 
go  well  together.  It  is  beginning  to  be  apparent  that  trade  can- 
not get  on  satisfactorily  without  Christianity.  There  is  a  moral 
law.  There  is  a  spiritual  realm.  It  surrounds  us.  It  is  a  part 
of  us.  Violate  its  laws  and  society  is  dismembered.  If  em- 
ployers ignore  the  rights  of  the  weak  and  the  poor,  God  be- 
comes their  champion  and  spoils  those  who  spoiled  them. 

If  the  employed  trample  upon  the  rights  of  employers,  burn, 
rend,  and  destroy  in  their  mad  folly,  and  they  are  not  restrained, 
society  is  robbed  of  every  claim  to  respect.  An  opportunity 
has  come  to  unbend.  In  the  past  there  has  been  growing  up  a 
caste  feeling  ;  workingmen  have  divided  themselves  off  into 
classes.  These  men  have  acted  as  though  they  lived  in  a  world 


128  SAM   HOBART. 

by  themselves,  and  somehow  could  manage  and  control  the 
business  which  devolved  upon  others.  All  this  Sam  fought 
with  all  his  might.  lie  did  not  believe  that  boards  of  direction 
could  afford  to  ignore  the  interests  of  those  represented.  He 
felt  that  the  true  rule  was  the  golden  rule,  "  As  ye  would  that 
others  should  do  unto  you,  do  ye  even  so  unto  them."  This 
he  said  has  been  understood  to  apply  to  those  who  stood  on  a 
level,  but  not  to  reach  up  or  down.  Moral  law  plays  like  a 
piston,  up  and  down.  It  comes  from  God  and  descends  to  the 
lowest,  the  weakest,  and  the  most  dependent.  The  time  has 
come  when  employers  should  put  themselves  in  the  place  of  the 
employed,  and  when  the  employed  should  put  themselves  in 
the  place  of  the  employer.  The  noble  manner  in  which  this 
principle  has  been  illustrated  in  the  management  of  some  of  the 
great  manufacturing  interests  of  the  land  deserves  all  praise. 
No  greater  mistake  was  ever  made  than  the  one  contained  in 
the  supposition  that  men  of  property  have  no  interest  in  the 
people  who  toil.  How  absurd  the  theory.  The  most  of  them 
came  up  from  the  small  to  the  large,  because  they  proved  trust- 
worthy.  Society  has  to  lean  on  something,  and  will  lean  on 
the  best  it  can  find.  If  you  want  confidence,  deserve  it  and 
you  will  have  it,  was  Sam's  principle  of  action.  Could  work- 
ingmen  hear  how  they  are  praised  in  the  home-circle  for  well- 
doing ;  could  they  understand  how  true  it  is  that  the  men  who 
are  successful  employers  must  be  in  sympathy  with  the  wants 
of  men  employed,  I  am  sure  thousands  of  hearts  would  be 
opened  toward  them  which  are  now  closed. 

Each  class  of  employments  has  its  peculiar  advantages  and  its 
peculiar  dangers.  As  each  approaches  the  highest  point  of  de- 
velopment, they  draw  nearer  and  nearer  toward  one  another  as 
the  opposite  sides  of  a  pyramid,  far  apart  at  the  base,  meet  at 
the  top. 

There  are  those  who  make  ignorance  of  everything  outside 
of  their  business  their  glory.  They  shut  their  doors  to  all  the 
world  beyond  a  narrow  circle.  Over  the  gates  of  their  minds 
they  write  "No  admittance  except  on  business."  They  live  in 


REPRESENTATIVES    OF    OUR    COMMERCIAL   LIFE.        129 

a  narrow  world.  History  is  a  blank,  poetry  an  untravelled 
wilderness,  and  science  an  unexplored  realm.  Books  and 
knowledge  and  wise  discourse  and  the  amenities  of  life  are  like 
words  in  a  strange  tongue.  To  the  hard,  smooth  surface  of 
their  souls,  nothing  genial,  graceful,  or  winning  will  cling. 
They  cannot  afford  thus  to  live.  God  is  above  them  and  asks 
for  love.  Humanity  is  beneath  and  around  them  and  cries  for 
help. 

Suppose  men  of  wealth  should  strike.  Suppose  the  owners 
of  railroads  should  refuse  to  run  them,  the  men  who  handle 
grain  should  refuse  to  buy  it  ;  suppose  the  men  of  wealth 
should  imitate  the  men  of  poverty,  what  would  become  of  us  ? 
It  is  a  fact  that  a  man  worth  millions  is  under  no  greater  obli- 
gations to  use  the  means  in  his  possession  wisely  than  is  the 
man  who  only  has  his  labor  to  depend  upon.  The  man  with 
five  talents  who  used  them  did  wisely  ;  but  the  man  with  one 
talent  who  hid  it  in  the  earth  did  foolishly.  If  men  of  wealth, 
of  position,  and  of  power  should  refuse  to  put  forth  exertion, 
our  cities  would  be  filled  with  starving  multitudes,  our  farmers 
would  be  impoverished  because  of  the  lack  of  ability  to  ex- 
change their  crops  for  money  necessary  to  supply  the  waste  of 
machinery  ;  our  miners  would  be  out  of  employ,  and  death 
and  destruction  would  come  upon  all  classes. 

The  value  of  commercial  integrity  as  a  source  of  thrift  is 
overlooked.  There  are  those  who  trust  to  shrewdness  and 
sharpness,  and  suavity  rather  than  to  honor,  honesty,  and  up- 
rightness. It  is  a  mistake.  The  merchants  who  deal  with 
men  as  if  they  never  expected  to  see  them  again,  cannot  com- 
pare with  those  who  seek  to  do  a  safe  business  by  giving  satis- 
faction as  an  inducement  to  trade  on  the  morrow.  The  mer- 
chants of  France  and  Italy  are  not  expected  to  tell  the  truth. 
The  result  is  apparent  in  the  lack  of  wholesale  establishments. 
Paris  and  Rome  are  not  commercial  centres  and  never  can  be 
until  truthfulness  and  integrity  become  their  characteristics. 
The  same  is  true  of  men  who  toil.  The  man  who  seeks  to  do 
no  more  than  he  agreed  to  do,  who  is  ever  playing  sharp  and 


130  SAM    HOB  ART. 

shrewd  with  his  employer,  will  not  be  able  to  compete  with  the 
man  or  men  who  make  the  interest  of  their  employer  their  in- 
terests. 44  What  is  the  secret  of  your  success  ?"  said  a  man  to 
Deacon  John  G.  Whipple.  <4  My  employers  know  that  I 
Httend  to  their  business  and  that  on  quarter  day  they  get  every 
dollar  that  is  due  them."  That  was  only  a  part  of  the  truth. 
He  was  as  true  to  the  men  with  whom  he  did  business  as  to 
those  who  employed  him.  Every  one  trusted  him  because  he 
was  true  to  every  one. 

Such  a  man  is  a  success  no  matter  where  he  begins.  A  man 
who  does  with  perfect  accuracy  and  thoroughness  what  his 
hand  finds  to  do,  what  is  ordinary  and  established  in  the 
routine  of  business,  and  has  always  a  sure  and  piercing  glance 
ahead  and  around,  is  sure  of  success.  In  every  walk  of  life 
there  are  certain  minutiae  which  are  visible  only  to  the  man  of 
insight,  and  to  be  seized  only  by  the  man  of  tact,  but  which 
are  yet  the  tender,  scarce  perceptible  filaments  leading  to  for- 
tune's mines.  If  you  know  not  how  to  seize  those,  no  matter 
where  you  start,  you  are  sure  to  meet  with  defeat  ;  but  if  you 
know  how  to  seize  them,  start  where  you  may,  the  smiles  of 
fortune  may  be  secured. 

Let  love  exist  and  let  it  be  without  dissimulation.  Cleave  to 
'  that  which  is  good  and  right  and  true,  and  abhor  that  which  is 
evil.  This  do  because  such  characteristics  ennoble  and  enlarge 
men. 

"  Do  you  not  believe  that  the  illustration  of  the  teachings  of 
the  gospel  is  the  main  safeguard  of  the  country  ?"  said  a  father 
to  his  son. 

44  I  do,"  was  the  reply. 

44  Why,  then,  do  you  not  seek  to  help  the  country  by  living 
in  conformity  with  the  teachings  of  the  Word  of  God  ?" 

44  Because  I  am  not  pious. " 

44  But  you  ought  to  be  pious." 

44  I  know  that  ;  but  I  am  not,  and  until  I  am  I  will  not  enter 
upon  such  a  life." 

Does  not  that  opinion  prevail  ?     Is  not  God's  government 


REPRESENTATIVES   OF   OUR   COMMERCIAL   LIFE.       131 

ignored  because  men  do  not  profess  religion  ?  We  cannot 
afford  to  have  it  ignored.  This  is  professedly  a  Christian 
'land.  Is  it  so  ?  Does  a  youth  find  here  an  open  door  to  be 
and  do  all  that  he  finds  within  himself  the  capacity  of  being 
and  doing  ?  All  know  he  does  not.  The  way  to  apprentice- 
ship, to  trades,  is  blocked  by  men  who  object  to  new-comers 
because  of  the  peril  threatening  wages.  The  dog  in  the 
rnanger  that  could  not  eat  hay  and  would  not  let  the  ox  do  it 
was  as  generous,  as  wise,  as  far-seeing  as  is  such  a  man. 

Despotism  in  the  small  lives  in  communities.  It  is  seen 
among  men  who  control  wages  as  well  as  among  men  who  pay 
wages.  It  is  impossible  for  liberty  to  exist  in  the  large  when 
it  is  rejected  by  the  individual.  Hence  the  make-up  of  our 
great  cities  creates  uneasiness  and  apprehension.  A  city  is 
connected  by  a  myriad  net-work  of  electric  communication 
with  all  parts  of  the  country,  and  the  powerful  and  assimilative 
influence  of  intercommunication  with  all  parts  of  the  country  is 
ever  operating.  The  nerves  of  the  social  body,  diverging  from 
the  sensorium,  lie  along  the  channels  of  commercial,  literary, 
and  religious  correspondence,  affiliating  every  village,  neigh- 
borhood, and  hamlet  in  sympathetic  and  dependent  existence, 
and  diffusing  the  influence  of  wealth  and  arts  and  letters  to  the 
farthest  bounds  of  the  state,  and  a  reacting  influence  of  every 
event  occurring  in  every  part  of  the  land,  and  almost  of  the 
world,  vibrates  along  these  nerves  and  is  tremblingly  felt  at  the 
centres  of  trade.  Let  us  remember  this.  Let  not  the  head 
ignore  the  hand  or  the  heart  or  the  foot.  Let  the  head,  the 
heart,  the  hand,  and  the  foot  be  in  accord.  u  Charge  them 
that  are  rich  in  this  world,  that  they  be  not  high-minded,  nor 
trust  in  uncertain  riches,  but  in  the  living  God,  who  giveth  us 
richly  all  things  to  enjoy  ;  that  they  do  good,  that  they  be  rich 
in  good  works,  ready  to  distribute,  willing  to  communicate  ; 
laying  up  in  store  for  themselves  a  good  foundation  against  the 
time  to  come,  that  they  may  lay  hold  on  eternal  life."  * 
Honor  all  men  and  cultivate  respect  for  all  classes.  Poets, 

*  1  Tim.  6  :  17. 


132  SAM   HOBART. 

orators,  sculptors,  painters,  artists,  writers,  mechanics  live  and 
thrive  in  cities  and  in  the  land  because  each  is  necessary  to  all. 
The  providence  of  God  summons  the  representatives  of  our 
commercial  life  to  posts  of  responsibility  and  of  influence  such 
as  the  men  of  Babylon,  Tyre,  and  Sidon  never  knew.  When 
I  think  of  what  is  to  be  the  future  of  America,  if  the  men  who 
now  live  shall  find  it  in  their  hearts  to  respect  the  rights  of 
their  fellows  ;  when  her  wildernesses  shall  be  converted  into 
fruitful  fields,  and  her  deserts  are  made  to  bud  and  blossom  as 
the  rose  ;  when  the  mineral,  the  agricultural,  and  the  manufact- 
uring wealth  of  the  nation  is  developed  ;  when  cotton-fiuld  shall 
wave  greetings  to  wheat-field  ;  when  the  toilers  in  the  South 
shall  vie  with  the  laborers  of  the  North  in  promoting  the  ad- 
vancement of  every  healthful  enterprise  ;  when  the  men  who 
stand  at  the  gateways  of  traffic  in  the  East  shall  faithfully  repre- 
sent the  men  who  work  on  the  vast  prairies  and  deep-flowing 
rivers,  among  the  mines  of  the  Western  mountains,  and  on  the 
shores  of  the  Pacific,  then  shall  come  such  a  largeness  of  bless- 
ing as  shall  fill  the  garner  of  national  hope,  and  glorify  a  people 
called  of  God  to  lead  the  highest  and  best  thought  of  the  ages. 

An  opportunity  to  proclaim  the  friendship  of  God  to  all  has 
come.  God  cares  for  the  poor.  Proof  of  this  fact  is  found  in 
the  very  construction  of  society  and  in  the  declarations  of  the 
Bible,  from  Deuteronomy  to  Revelation. 

God  also  cares  for  the  rich.  The  crown  of  the  wise  is  their 
riches.  To  him  that  hath  shall  be  given,  and  he  shall  have 
more  abundantly.  They  are  held  responsible  for  the  use  or 
abuse  of  their  trust.  If  they  are  not  faithful  in  the  unrighteous 
Mammon,  He  will  not  commit  to  them  the  true  riches.  God 
holds  all  responsible  for  the  use  or  misuse  of  their  powers. 
No  man,  no  city,  no  state  occupies  an  isolated  position. 
Sodom  and  Gomorrah,  Nineveh  and  Babylon  went  to  the  wall, 
not  because  they  lacked  position  or  were  not  well  situated  for 
trade,  but  because  they  neglected  opportunities  to  advance  the 
interests  of  the  race. 

Trade  finds  its  foundation  stone  and  its  security  in  confidence 


REPRESENTATIVES   OF   OUR   COMMERCIAL   LIFE.       133 

derived  from  conduct  which  harmonizes  with  the  claims  of  the 
gospel.  Commercial  honor  is  a  power  as  well  as  a  praise. 
With  that  preserved  inviolate,  a  man  may  be  poor  in  purse  but 
of  inestimable  value  in  the  community.  To  sustain  and  help 
such  fortunes  are  pledged.  It  is  possible  for  all  to  obtain  the 
.  boon.  These  opportunities  are  within  more  than  without. 
The  country  holds  thousands  who  are  ready  to  pay  for  capacity 
linked  to  honor  aud  trustworthiness.  Have  you  that  which 
meets  the  demand  ?  New  doors  to  usefulness  are  opening  every 
hour.  Grand  opportunities  are  ever  presenting  themselves  to 
men  who  have  the  discernment  to  see  them  and  the  capacity  to 
meet  the  requirements  of  the  position.  Let  us  rejoice  that 
there  are  about  us  so  many  models  of  excellence.  Christian 
men  stand  as  pillars  of  support  in  this  land  which  uphold  the 
nation's  name  and  fame.  Be  workers  with  them.  Lead  for- 
ward in  the  way  of  life. 

"  Ah,  the  wrongs  that  might  be  righted, 

If  we  would  but  see  the  way  ; 
Ah,  the  pains  that  might  be  lightened 

Every  hour  and  every  day, 
If  we  would  but  hear  the  pleadings 

Of  the  hearts  that  go  astray. 
Le  us  step  outside  the  stronghold 

Of  our  selfishness  and  pride  ; 
Let  us  lift  our  fainting  brothers, 

Let  us  strengthen  ere  we  chide. 
Let  us,  ere  we  blame  the  fallen, 

Hold  a  light  to  cheer  and  guide. 
Ah,  how  blessed,  ah,  how  blessed 

Earth  would  be,  if  we  would  try 
Thus  to  aid  and  right  the  weaker, 

Thus  to  check  each  brother's  sigh  ; 
Thus  to  walk  in  duty's  pathway 

To  our  better  life  on  high." 

An  opportunity  for  the  display  of  love  has  come.  Let  it 
exist.  There  is  but  little  of  it  in  comparison  with  what  there 
should  be.  That  man  that  manifests  an  interest  in  another's 


134  SAM    HOI3ART. 

welfare,  that  greets  employer  or  employed  with  a  smile,  that  is 
not  afraid  to  sacrifice  self  for  the  good  of  another,  will  succeed. 

This  insight  is  the  gift  of  God.  Believe  in  him  and  serve 
him,  and  it  shall  be  welL  Refuse  to  serve  him,  and  it  shall  not 
be  well.  God  never  forgets.  How  wonderful  the  words  of 
Jacob  to  Simeon  andLevi  at  the  last  :  "  Instruments  of  cruelty 
are  in  your  habitations.  O,  my  soul,  come  not  thou  into 
their  secret  ;  unto  their  assembly,  mine  honor,  be  not  thou 
united  :  for  in  their  anger  they  slew  a  man,  and  in  their  self- 
will  they  digged  down  a  wall." 

"Will  the  conduct  of  men  be  forgotten,  who  for  selfish  pur- 
poses have  turned  back  the  wheels  of  progress  and  brought 
starvation  and  penury  to  thousands  of  homes  ?  Will  he  not 
say  again  :  "Cursed  be  their  anycr  for  it  was  fierce,  and  their 
wrath  for  it  was  cruel  "  ? 

The  key  to  prosperity  is  within  our  reach.  It  is  knocking 
at  the  door.  It  is  ready  to  enter  in  and  shed  the  glad  smile  of 
its  benefaction  over  home  and  workshop,  over  store  and  fac- 
tory, over  field  and  mine.  It  has  been  ordained  that  honesty, 
industry,  integrity,  fair  dealing,  and  brotherly  kindness  enable 
any  man  to  unlock  the  gates  which  to  others  are  locked  and 
barred,  providing  the  conditions  of  honesty  are  met.  It  is 
never  found  in  unsettling  values  nor  in  dishonest  practices. 
Just  balances  and  just  weights  are  essential  to  the  prosperity  of 
all  classes.  Honesty  is  more  than  the  best  policy  ;  it  is  duty. 
Take  from  the  nation  "  the  wisdom  of  the  wise  and  the  under- 
standing of  the  prudent,  and  it  hasteneth  to  ruin."  God  holds 
each  one  responsible  for  using  time,  talent,  and  money  for  the 
advancement  of  man's  highest  interests.  God  summons  his 
children  by  the  voice  of  truth  to  sublime  endeavor.  It  is  be- 
cause God  does  not  die,  but  lives  in  the  darkness  as  in  the 
light,  and  watches  from  on  high  to  reward  honesty  and  integrity 
and  to  frown  upon  trickery  and  fraud,  that  no  matter  how  the 
pendulum  swing  of  human  opinion  falls  away  from  the  correct 
standard,  it  must  come  back,  and  that  society  learns  that  noth- 
ing is  surely  and  safely  settled  until  it  is  settled  right.  In  a 


REPRESENTATIVES   OF   OUR   COMMERCIAL   LIFE.        135 

room  filled  with  pianos,  whoever  strikes  a  key  causes  every 
similar  chord  to  yield  a  responsive  tone,  and  so  good  deeds 
exert  their  influence.  Christ  touching  the  key-board  of  our 
lives  strikes  chords  that  run  through  the  world. 

A  missionary  mingling  with  all  classes  declared  that  in  his 
opinion  nothing  was  wanting  to  secure  continued  prosperity  but 
that  each  man  would  go  to  the  help  of  his  fellow,  according  to 
God's  law  of  brotherly  kindness.  Let  fidelity  characterize 
capacity,  let  honor  distinguish  the  trusted.  Sam  used  to  love 
to  say  that  because  these  principles  find  embodiment  in  human 
action  there  is  prosperity.  Nearly  every  good  and  trusty  me- 
chanic has  all  he  can  do.  Let  laborers  of  every  class  make  it 
for  the  interest  of  capital  to  employ  labor  and  there  will  be  no 
hard  times.  The  winter  of  neglect  will  change  to  the  summer 
air  of  brotherly  kindness. 


CHAPTER  XI. 

SAM'S    FAITH,     OR    WHOM    SHALL    WE    TRUST  ? 

IN  Sam's  estimation,  nothing  was  nobler  than  a  trustworthy 
man,  and  he  believed  that  in  answering  this  question  "  Whom 
shall  we  trust  ?"  we  permit  the  noblest  characteristics  of  man- 
hood to  engage  the  thought,  and  give  to  the  possession  of  the 
individual  the  key  which  unlocks  the  riddle  of  another's  life 
and  solves  the  mysteries  of  his  own. 

Trust,  whether  exercised  in  another  or  reposed  in  one's  self, 
is  never  an  accident.  It  is  a  plant  of  slow  growth,  reared  with 
diligent  and  unwearying  care,  and  is  easily  injured,  and  may  be 
quickly  destroyed.  It  is  essential  to  life.  The  fact  meets  us 
at  the  threshold  of  existence,  and  in  many  ways  occupies  our 
attention  from  the  cradle  to  the  grave.  Men  are  strong  or 
weak,  noble  or  mean,  brave  or  cowardly,  because  of  what  they 
confide  in  or  trust.  Faith  grows  out  of  trust.  Government 
finds  here  its  corner-stone,  and  its  administration  depends 
entirely  upon  what  men  build  their  hopes  upon  and  in  whom 
they  trust.  No  question  can  be  freighted  with  graver  respon- 
sibilities, no  matter  where  asked  or  by  whom  answered.  Man 
is  so  constituted  that  independence  in  an  absolute  sense  is  an 
impossibility.  Circumstances  beyond  our  reach  control  us. 
Ties  which  other  natures  have  interlaced  with  our  own  being 
bring  us  into  subjection.  Trust  is  essential  to  individual  life. 
Society  is  its  outgrowth,  civilization  and  Christianity  its  fruit. 
Trust  is  the  girdle  of  strength  for  individuals  and  nations. 
Diffuse  it  broadcast,  and  there  is  peace.  Destroy  it,  and  there 
is  war.  Trust  makes  fraternity,  freedom,  and  prosperity  possi- 
bilities. Distrust  uproots  the  foundations  of  social  order,  racks 


SAM'S   FAITH,  OR   WHOM   SHALL   WE   TRUST  ?          137 

society  with  revolutions,  and  writes  its  plaintive  story  on  the 
faces  of  men,  on  the  street  and  in  the  home.  Laws  regulate 
and  govern  its  growth.  Obey  them  and  life  becomes  fruitful 
of  buds  and  flowers.  The  soul  twines  its  tendrils  about  strong 
supports,  which  carry  the  fruitage  of  life  into  the  ripening 
sunshine  of  love,  and  cause  the  child  of  promise  to  walk  the 
roadways  of  God. 

Disobey  these  laws,  trifle  with  this  instinct  of  the  human 
soul,  and  you  wound  and  demoralize  the  spiritual  nature, 
change  society  from  being  an  Eden  into  a  desert,  and  convert 
the  heir  and  prop  of  your  existence  into  an  Ishmael,  whose 
hand  shall  be  against  his  fellow  because  he  has  learned  to 
regard  the  world  as  his  hunting  ground  and  man  as  his  foe. 
No  trust  tells  a  sorry  story,  whether  seen  on  the  sign  of  the 
village  store,  on  the  shrewd  and  suspicious  look  of  a  commu- 
nity, or  in  the  revolutionary  and  unmanageable  spirit  that  dis- 
tinguishes so  large  a  portion  of  the  world.  Society  is  made  up 
of  systems  of  mutual  dependencies.  In  a  civilized  state  men 
and  women  must  trust.  Only  savages  can  profess  indepen- 
dence, and  they  are  savages  and  are  not  independent.  The  Indian 
warrior  links  his  interests  with  those  of  his  tribe,  compels  his 
wife  to  carry  his  game,  cook  his  meal,  and  hoe  his  field. 
Whom  shall  ive  trust  ?  has  sounded  all  along  the  centuries.  It 
was  heard  in  Eden,  and  its  voice  reverberates  over  desert  wastes. 
It  is  a  personal  question.  As  trust  in  the  individual  comes 
from  what  God  has  done  for  him  and  from  what  he  has  by 
God's  help  achieved  for  himself,  so  when  we  ascertain  who  are 
worthy  of  trust,  we  find  out  the  individuals  with  whom  God  is 
well  pleased,  and  who  are  honored  as  instruments  in  carrying 
forward  enterprises  which  benefit  mankind  and  bless  the  world. 
Every  Christian  man  or  woman  may  say  by  action  as  well  as  by 
speech,  "  I  am  no  accident.  As  creation  implies  a  purpose, 
my  being  here  means  something.  I  am  part  of  the  plan.  I 
am  a  link  in  a  chain.  I  am  a  unit  of  universal  being.  God 
has  use  for  me.  There  is  something  for  me  to  do.  Some- 
thing that  would  have  been  left  undone  had  I  not  come. 


138  SAM    HOBART. 

There  is  a  place  which  I  can  fill  better  than  any  other  man  in 
the  universe.  Let  me  do  my  duty,  improve  my  opportunity, 
develop  all  of  my  powers  of  body,  of  mind  and  soul,  and  use 
them  skilfully  and  wisely,  and  God  will  be  honored  and 
humanity  will  be  helped. " 

The  recognition  of  this  truth  concerning  himself  and  his 
place  enables  him  to  regard  with  favor  the  mission  of  every 
other  man  and  the  importance  of  his  place.  Trust  is,  then,  a 
seed  of  God's  own  sowing.  The  more  of  it  there  is  in  the 
world,  the  more  will  earth  become  like  heaven.  The  more  will 
God  rule  and  the  louder  will  grow  the  refrain,  "  Trust  in  the 
Lord  and  do  good  ;  so  shalt  thou  dwell  in  the  land,  and  verily 
thou  shalt  be  fed."  This  was  Sam's  faith.  This  faith  made 
the  man.  He  had  no  sympathy  with  those  who  believed  that 
the  old  times  were  better  than  these,  and  who  are  ever  wishing 
that  they  had  from  the  graves  some  of  the  men  who,  being 
dead,  yet  speak.  Often  he  would  say  to  the  men  about  him, 
his  face  glowing  with  serene  satisfaction  and  happiness,  "  Never 
were  there  better  times  than  these.  Never  were  the  boughs  of 
the  tree  of  life  so  full  of  flowers  and  fruit.  Never  were  there 
so  many  trustworthy  men  on  the  earth.  Never  was  there  so 
much  of  moral  influence  permeating  the  affairs  of  men. "  Of 
the  extent  of  trust  it  is  impossible  to  form  an  adequate  concep- 
tion. It  is  the  bond  of  union  among  men.  It  is  the  soul  of 
commerce,  the  parent  of  enterprise,  and  the  reward  of  toil.  It 
whitens  every  sea  with  our  mercantile  marine.  It  nets  the 
continent  with  railways,  it  girdles  the  globe  with  its  electric 
bands. 

The  lighthouse  system,  so  perfect  and  so  extensive,  illustrates 
this  principle.  Because  of  it  men  dare  the  perils  of  the  deep, 
and  put  their  lives  and  fortunes  into  the  keeping  of  those  un- 
known to  them.  Sam  often  referred  to  it,  and  grew  enthusiastic 
one  night,  as  from  Narragansett  Beach  he  saw  the  revolving 
light,  warning  off  "  The  Graves,"  where  so  many  good  ships 
had  gone  down. 

"  But,"    said   he,    "  we  would  be  nothing   without  trust. 


SAM'S   FAITH,  OH   WHOM   SHALL    WE   TRUST  ?          139 

Every  engineer  who  drives  Ins  locomotive  out  on  the  iron  track 
feels  that  eyes  are  on  him  and  that  every  one  trusts  him.  He 
lias  in  his  hands  the  lives  of  hundreds  of  confiding  men  and 
women.  Switchmen,  flagmen,  and  men  at  other  points  are  all 
working  under  one  law." 

Pulling  a  letter  from  his  pocket,  he  said  :  tl  This  is  wonder- 
ful. It  came  to  me  from  the  other  side  of  the  globe.  It  can- 
not speak  nor  walk  nor  move,  and  yet  it  is  carried  by  men  of 
other  languages  and  of  other  systems  of  faith,  because  trust- 
worthy men  live  all  along  the  way.  Why/'  said  Sam,  "  it  is 
possible  to  draw  a  check  on  this  bank  almost  anywhere  and 
find  it  honored.  The  other  day  in  the  horse-cars,  I  saw  an 
Irishwoman  approach  the  car  and  unwind  a  bundle.  Out 
rolled  a  great,  red-faced,  chubby-cheeked  boy.  *  Put  him  out 
at  such  a  street,  conductor,'  said  the  woman.  The  little  fellow 
had  perfect  faith,  and  rode  without  fear.  Two  old  women 
wrere  in  the  car.  They  both  took  the  boy  in  charge  and  pep- 
pered the  conductor  with  questions  as  to  whether  they  had 
reached  the  street,  whenever  they  approached  a  new  corner ; 
and  though  the  conductor  told  them  the  place  was  a  mile  away, 
they  kept  saying  in  their  softest  tones,  *  You  are  not  forgetting 
the  boy,  conductor  ?  '  And  when  at  last  the  street  was  reached 
he  shouted  out  the  name,  lifted  out  the  boy,  and  found  the  old 
grandmother  at  the  crossing  waiting  for  him,  because  trust  is  a 
fact  at  both  ends  of  the  route.  To  the  steps  of  a  rail-car 
conies  a  blind  father,  led  by  the  hand  of  a  loving  daughter. 
She  has  only  time  to  open  the  door,  bid  him  good-bye,  and 
s-iy,  'Some  one  will  give  you  a  scat,7  and  leap  off  the  train. 
The  car  is  full  of  men.  Nearly  all  rise,  and  prove  that  the 
daughter's  faith  is  not  misplaced.  This  faith  and  trust  is  the 
birthright  of  love.  In  the  home  it  came  to  us  and  taught  us 
trust  in  every  form.  It  is  this  that  makes  a  mother  of  a  refined 
and  cultured  nature,  who  is  a  companion  to  her  children,  who 
lives  with  as  well  as  lives  for  them,  who  obtains  arid  keeps  the 
confidences  of  the  child — a  blessing  beyond  compare,  the  most 
precious  of  earth.  "  It  was  way  back  there  in  childhood,"  said 


140  SAM   HOBART. 

Sam,  "  my  mother  implanted  in  my  heart  this  principle  of 
trustworthiness.  She  believed  in  me  and,  in  the  home,  wove 
linked  armor  for  my  soul. ' ' 

Sam  used  to  be  often  asked  to  look  after  some  young  man 
that  came  to  Boston.  Frequently  he  would  say,  "  This  is  not 
the  place  to  do  that  work  ;  it  is  among  the  hills  of  New  Eng- 
land. A  boy  trustworthy  at  home  will  be  trustworthy  here. 
A  boy  that  cares  not  for  home,  for  his  word,  for  trusts  there, 
will  be  a  scoundrel  here."  It  is  possible  to  stand  by  a  boy,  to 
take  stock  in  him  and  thus  to  aid  him.  This  story  touched 
Sam's  heart  :  A  father  related  to  him  his  failure  to  stand  by 
his  boy.  "  When  quite  a  lad,"  he  said,  "  my  son  came  home 
from  school  with  a  flushed  face  and  with  a  distrusted  look. 
He  had  his  books  with  him.  I  asked  him  what  was  the  mat- 
ter. He  replied  :  '  I  have  been  wrongly  treated  by  my 
teacher,  and  am  not  going  to  school  again. '  I  rebuked  him, 
took  ground  against  him,  sided  with  his  teacher,  and  said  : 
*  You  will  go  to  school  to-morrow  morning,  and  I  will  see 
that  you  do  so.'  My  boy  pleaded  earnestly  and  tried  to  prove 
he  was  right.  I  would  not  listen  to  him,  and  the  next 
morning  compelled  him  to  go  with  me.  On  entering  the  vesti- 
bule of  the  house,  with  a  strange  look  in  his  eye  which  I  never 
saw  before,  he  stopped  and  said,  '  Father,  I  cannot  enter  that 
schoolroom  until  they  set  me  right.  /  would  die  first. '  I 
turned  and  looked  at  him,  and  saw  something  about  the  boy 
which  told  me  to  stop.  I  paused  to  think.  This  gave  him  a 
moment  to  explain  that  there  were  several  boys  who  knew  all 
about  the  case,  and  if  I  would  go  in  and  ask  them  to  tell  the 
story  before  the  teacher  I  would  learn  the  truth.  In  I  went, 
and  frankly  told  the  teacher  what  had  occurred.  He  called  up 
the  boys.  They  confirmed  my  son's  story.  The  teacher  saw 
his  mistake  and  at  once  went  out  and  brought  him  in,  and  set 
him  right  before  all  the  school.  He  did  it  so  handsomely  that 
my  son  never  afterward  felt  any  bitterness  toward  him  ;  but  I 
have  ever  been  conscious  that  from  that  day  to  the  present  my 
son  has  never  felt  toward  me  as  before. 


SAM'S   FAITH,  OR    WHOM    SHALL   WE   TRUST  ?  141 

"  If,  on  the  other  hand,  I  had  said,  '  I  will  see  about  this.  I 
hope  there  is  no  mistake  about  it,  and  if  there  is  not  you  shall 
be  upheld, '  the  boy  would  have  been  satisfied  and  he  would 
have  been  bound  to  me  with  hooks  of  steel." 

u  I  can  understand  it,"  said  Sam,  "  and  well  remember 
when  a  man  said  to  me  he  had  faith  in  me,  and  that  I  was  to  be 
advanced  because  of  it. ' ' 

i(  Trust  is  a  duty,"  said  Sam.  "  No  one  is  fit  to  live  who 
refuses  to  exercise  it,  and  'yet  it  is  easily  wounded,  and  when 
once  injured  can  never  be  repaired  or  restored.  The  wonder 
of  human  skill  is  the  Etruscan  vase,  once  shattered  into  a  thou- 
sand fragments  and  yet  apparently  restored.  It  is  still  a 
broken  vase.  You  feel  it,  if  you  cannot  see  the  fractures  ;  but 
you  know  they  exist  and  that  it  is  not  what  it  once  was.  Trust 
once  shattered  is  ruined,  because  a  portion  of  its  component 
parts  is  destroyed.  Lose  confidence  in  an  individual  and  you 
cannot  get  it  back.  You  may  act  as  if  you  had  it  back,  but  it 
is  pretence,  and  a  hollow  mockery.  You  may  strive  to  look  it, 
but  he  knows  you  are  acting  a  part.  To  tamper  with  trust  is 
to  trifle  with  one  of  the  most  precious  qualities  with  which  life 
can  be  enriched. 

Convince  a  man  that  he  cannot  succeed  and  his  muscles 
relax,  his  arm  is  paralyzed,  his  will  loses  its  mastering  volition. 
Endow  him  with  trust,  and  what  cares  he  for  seeming  impossi- 
bilities. He  laughs  at  them  and  cries  with  Job,  "  Though  lie 
slay  me  yet  will  I  trust  him,  and  will  maintain  mine  ways  be- 
fore him,"  and  with  Job  holds  on  in  the  world's  despite,  while 
fortune  mocks,  and  wealth  betrays,  and  friends  desert,  and 
kindred  turn  their  back  upon  the  suffering  one,  knowing  that 
in  God's  good  time,  not  a  moment  too  soon,  not  a  moment  too 
late,  it  shall  be  found  that  those  who  trust  in  the  Lord  shall  be 
as  Mount  Zion  ;  for  as  the  mountains  are  round  about  Jerusa- 
lem, so  is  the  Lord  round  about  them  that  fear  him  and  that 
put  their  trust  in  him.  The  mountains  may  depart  with  the 
mists  that  hang  about  their  summits,  the  heavens  may  be  rolled 


142  SAM    1IOBAKT. 

together  as  a  scroll,  yet  he  that  keeps  his  trust  in  God  and 
truth  shall  not  be  confounded. 

The  older  Sam  grew  and  the  more  he  mingled  with  men,  tho 
more  he  felt  that  he  could  trust  men  whose  faith  and  life 
enabled  them  to  repose  trust  in  God.  "  A  man,"  said  Sam, 
"  who  so  lives  that  he  can  expect  God  to  bless  him,  will  find 
support.  God  is  a  shield  to  them  who  put  their  trust  in  him." 
By  this  Sam  did  not  imply  Christian  characteristics  alone. 
There  is  a  faith  which  comes  to  men  in  critical  times.  Irving'a 
story  of  Columbus  sailing  over  an  unknown  sea,  and  despite  th-.; 
objections  of  his  crew  and  the  opposition  of  his  companions 
resolved  to  keep  one  bold  course  westward  until  he  should  reach 
land  or  get  back  to  Spain,  was  the  personification  of  trust. 

It  is  impossible  to  follow  him  as  he  sails  in  among  seaweed, 
which  resembled  submerged  meadows,  and  listen  to  the  crew  at 
open  defiance  as  they  call  to  mind  some  tale  of  a  frozen  ocean 
where  ships  were  said  to  be  sometimes  fixed  immovable,  or  of 
the  sunken  island  of  Atlantis,  fearing  that  they  were  at  that 
part  of  the  ocean  where  navigation  was  said  to  be  obstructed 
by  drowned  lands  and  the  ruin  of  an  engulfed  country  ;  to  see 
him  pass  day  by  day  in  pressing  westward,  believing  that  he 
should  succeed  because  God  willed  it ;  and  when  the  dangers 
thickened  and  perils  increased,  who  can  fail  to  gaze  with  de- 
light upon  the  man  as  he  rises  in  the  majesty  of  faith  and  tells 
them  it  is  useless  to  murmur,  that  he  is  determined  to  persevere 
until,  by  the  blessing  of  God,  he  shall  accomplish  the  enter- 
prise. 

No  wonder  he  bowed  himself  before  God  when  the  cry  of 
^ Land  !  LAND  !  LAND  !"  rang  through  the  night  air.  In 
spile  of  every  difficulty  and  danger  he  had  accomplished  hie 
object.  The  great  mystery  of  the  ocean  was  revealed  ;  his 
theory,  which  had  been  the  scoff  of  sages,  was  triumphantly 
vindicated  ;  he  had  secured  to  himself  a  glory  durable  as  the 
world  itself.  We  rejoice  with  him  as  on  Friday  morning, 
October  12th,  1492,  he  first  beheld  the  New  World.  His 


SAM'S  FAITH,  oft  WHOM:  SHALL  WE  TRUST  ?       143 

victory  was  complete.      His  thoughts  and  feelings  must  have 
been,  as  Irving  declares,  tumultuous  and  intense. 

This  faith  helped  Abraham  Lincoln,  when  the  stars  of  hope 
had  almost  faded  out  of  the  nation's  sky,  to  hold  on  and  still 
hold  on.  The  Governor  of  Illinois  had  sent  him  a  despairing 
telegram,  saying,  "  Man  the  forts  with  raw  recruits,  and  send 
every  soldier  ready  for  action  to  the  field. ' '  Lincoln  telegraphed 
back,  "  Hold  on,  Dick,  and  see  the  salvation  of  God." 

It  was  this  faith  which  made  Nathan  Hale,  in  the  gray  morn- 
ing, on  the  ladder  leaning  against  the  tree  from  which  his  life- 
less body  was  so  soon  to  hang,  say  as  he  looked  at  the  weeping 
women  and  tear-dimmed  eyes  of  the  wagon-boys,  "  I  regret 
that  I  have  but  one  life  to  give  my  country. " 

It  was  this  faith  that  enabled  Stephen  to  talk  with  God  while 
stones  hurtled  through  the  air,  and  to  pray,  "  Lay  not  this  sin 
to  their  charge.''  Just  as  did  his  Master  when  hanging  on  the 
accursed  tree  cry,  "  Father,  forgive  them,  they  know  not  what 
they  do." 

It  was  one  of  Sam's  quaint  say  ings,  "  There  is  nothing  smaller 
than  a  small  man,  and  nothing  poorer  than  a  poor  man.  He 
is  small  in  brain  power,  in  will  power,  in  capacity.  He  is  poor 
because  of  this.  Poor  in  purpose  and  in  plan." 

The  great  man  has  all  the  powers  of  manhood  in  large  meas- 
ure. He  has  great  affections,  great  thoughts,  good  judgment, 
mighty  force  of  will,  great  foresight,  marvellous  impulses, 
and  tremendous  self-control.  There  have  been  great  wrecks 
because  some  man  great  in  almost  everything  weakened  when 
he  came  to  hold  the  helm  in  the  midst  of  great  temptations.  In 
the  oft-quoted  words  of  Sidney  Smith  :  "  The  meaning  of  an 
extraordinary  great  man  is,  that  he  is  eight  men,  not  one  man  ; 
that  he  has  as  much  wit  as  if  he  had  no  sense,  and  as  much 
sense  as  if  he  had  no  wit  ;  that  his  conduct  is  as  judicious  as 
if  he  were  the  dullest  of  human  beings,  and  his  imagination  as 
brilliant  as  if  he  were  irretrievably  ruined.  Having  this  many- 
sided  nature  his  sympathies  are  broad.  He  touches  life  at  all 


144  SAM    HOB  ART. 

points  ;  he  feds  with  the  child,  with  the  mother,  with  the 
veteran,  with  the  feeble,  with  the  strong,  with  the  joyous,  with 
the  afflicted,  as  the  broad  ocean  holds  in  its  close  embrace  the 
island  and  the  continent. 

"  The  great  man  forgets  himself.     The  man  whose  eye 
Is  ever  on  himself  doth  look  on  one 
The  least  of  nature's  works,  one  which  might  move 
The  wise  man  to  that  scorn  which  wisdom  holds 
Unlawful  ever." 

Trust  the  trustworthy,  was  to  Sam  a  privilege  quite  as  much 
as  a  duty. 

There  is  a  minister  of  Christ  who  well  remembers  and  often 
refers  to  his  fidelity  when  another  minister  betrayed  him,  and 
when  brethren  on  whom  he  had  leaned  with  absolute  confidence 
failed  him.  Then  Sam  arose  in  his  might.  He  revealed  his 
greatness,  his  faith,  his  constancy,  and  his  nobility.  He  sai-l 
then,  with  an  emphasis  that  will  never  be  forgotten  by  those 
who  heard  him,  "  We  should  trust  those  who  voice  by  thdr 
speech  and  illustrate  by  their  conduct  the  purposes  of  Almighty 
God.11  Faith  is  God's  measure  of  a  man.  It  ought  to  be 
ours.  The  victors  to-day  are  those  who  believed  in  God  in 
spite  of  failure,  obloquy  and  reproach.  They  saw  their  work 
in  the  light  of  duty  and  moved  on 'in  the  strength  of  God. 
Monuments  begin  to  thicken  on  our  squares  and  in  our  parks, 
built  to  perpetuate  the  memory  of  those  titled  sons  of  God  who 
have  wrought  a  great  work  and  obtained  their  crown.  Lafay- 
ette is  immortal  because  he  early  saw  in  this  new  world  an  area 
for  freedom,  and  left  behind  him  the  splendors  of  his  palatial 
home  that  he  might  enter  the  wilderness,  as  did  Jonathan  of 
old,  and  strengthen  David's  hand  in  God.  Howard  is  immor- 
tal because  in  the  poorest  prisoner  he  saw  a  brother,  and  in  the 
pest-infected  city  he  heard  the  wail  of  suffering  and  want  and 
went  to  its  relief.  Our  best  and  noblest  men  are  not  trusted 
because  of  any  claim  of  infallibility,  but  rather  because  of  a 
humility  and  of  a  felt  dependence  upon  God,  which  makes 


SAM'S   FAITH,  OR*\VHOM   SHALL   WE  TRUST  ?         145 

them,  no  matter  what  their  purpose  be  to-day,  determine  to 
keep  their  heart  open  for  a  better  purpose  to-morrow.  It  was 
these  acts  of  Sam  Hobart,  unnoticed  at  the  time  and  apparently 
unthought  of  by  the  men,  that  come  out  and  shine  in  the  clear 
light  now  that  the  actor  is  removed,  as  do  the  stars  shine  forth 
when  the  sun  retires  from  view  ;  which  make  him  immortal  in 
the  love  of  all  who  knew  him,  and  deserving  to  have  his  name 
enrolled  among  the  titled  ones  of  earth. 


CHAPTER   XII. 

THE    WORK    AMONG    RAILROAD    MEN. 

The  Need    of  the    Work—Edioard    D.   Ingersoll—The  Story 
of  His  Life  and  Work. 

CHRIST  is  a  necessity  for  men  who  toil.  This  Sam  be- 
lieved and  this  faitli  he  avowed.  How  dark  was  the  hour 
before  the  dawn  !  The  uprising  had  not  then  taken  place. 
Dwight  L.  Moody  was  sounding  the  alarm,  and  Ira  D.  San- 
key  and  P.  P.  Bliss  and  many  more  were  beginning  to  fill 
the  air  with  notes  of  enlivening  song.  Little  was  done.  Much 
was  hoped  for,  and  supplications  earnest  and  fervent  were 
being  poured  into  the  ear  of  God.  There  was  need  of  it.  It 
was  seen  that  Europe  is  pouring  upon  our  shores,  by  the  tens 
of  thousands,  men  trained  to  wrong  ideas  under  its  despotisms. 
These  men  become  a  disturbing  element  in  our  midst  ;  they  are 
gathering  to-day  in  our  great  cities  ;  they  are  forming  secret 
societies  which  hold  that  the  greatest  crime  which  can  be  com- 
mitted is  that  of  owning  property  and  being  prosperous  above 
themselves.  These  men  claim  that  all  men  should  share  alike  ; 
and  if  by  the  end  of  the  first  year,  one  should  spend  his  patri- 
mony, and  another  should  double  his,  there  should  be  a  new 
divide  for  the  next  year.  These  men,  whose  doctrine  is  that 
right  in  property  is  wrong  in  principle,  are  teaching  it  to 
wrong-headed  men,  who  are  operating  our  railroads  and  work- 
ing in  our  manufactories.  They  are  fomenting  disturbance, 
teaching  that  there  is  between  capital  and  labor  an  irrepressible 
conflict.  They  are  sowing  the  wind,  and  expect  to  reap  in  the 
whirlwind.  They  fatten  on  spoil  ;  they  delight  in  riot.  They 
have  nothing  to  lose  and  everything  to  gain  by  disturbance. 


THE    WORK    AMONG    RAILROAD   MEN.  14-7 

Railroad  men  became  convinced  of  the  need  of  Christ  to 
resist  this  influence.  As  W.  R.  Davenport,  of  Erie,  Pa.,  said, 
"  they  have  seen  that  they  cannot  afford  not  to  invest  their 
money  that  this  work  may  be  carried  on  among  their  employes. 

"  You  remember  that,  more  than  three  thousand  years  ago, 
a  shrewd  Egyptian  monarch  observed  that  a  certain  young 
prisoner  was  a  wonderfully  '  lucky  fellow/  that  what  was  in  his 
hand  prospered,  and  this  monarch  took  this  young  man  out 
of  prison,  lifted  him  up  to  be  his  prime  minister,  and  put  every- 
thing under  his  hand,  and  only  in  the  matter  of  the  throne 
was  the  monarch  the  greater  ;  and  the  Lord  prospered  every- 
thing under  this  young  man's  hand.  Now,  railroad  corpora- 
tions seem  to  have  made  a  similar  discovery  of  late  and  have 
been  calling  Christian  men  from  one  place  and  another  and 
placing  them  in  the  highest  positions  of  trust  ;  trying  the  ex- 
periment tried  so  long  ago  by  this  old  heathen.  And  what  has 
been  the  result  ?  It  is  astonishing.  These  men,  without  fear 
of  God  before  their  eyes,  but  having  a  great  deal  of  regard  for 
the  stockholders,  have  found  that  what  has  been  placed  in  the 
hands  of  these  sons  of  God  has  prospered  ;  therefore,  they 
search  out  these  Christian  men  and  put  them  in  the  highest 
positions,  and  then  reap  a  reward  of  gold,  verifying  that  which 
the  Word  of  God  says  :  4  Godliness  is  profitable  unto  all 
things,  having  promise  of  the  life  that  now  is.'  The  Inter- 
national Committee  can  tell  all  how  wonderfully  the  Lord 
has  brought  about  an  affirmative  answer  to  this  question,  from 
East  and  West,  from  North  and  South.  And  no  longer  do 
the  officials  ask  it  with  doubt.  The  shrewdest  men,  the  most 
careful  managers,  are  now  ready  to  appropriate  money  for  this 
purpose  ;  and  the  response  they  make  to  their  stockholders  is  : 
4  We  are  making  money  for  you  by  it.'  ' 

Christianity  as  a  police  force  is  seldom  praised.  It  is  a 
great  mistake  to  forget  our  obligations  to  what  is  being  done 
by  the  churches  of  Christ  in  creating  a  moral  sentiment  that 
acts  like  a  breakwater  against  the  increasing  waves  of  barbarism. 

"  Can  you  protect  a  railroad?     Tell  me  that.     What  will 


148  SAM    HOB  ART. 

protect  one  train  and  get  it  over  the  road  in  safety,  if  there  is 
a  band  of  ten  men  on  the  length  of  the  line  determined  to  ditch 
that  train  ?  Tell  me,  if  a  hundred  men  cannot  on  a  thousand 
miles  of  railroad  make  it  impossible  to  operate  that  line  ? 

u  Gentlemen,  I  want  to  repeat  here,  to-night,  that  the  most 
dangerous,  the  most  difficult  property  to  handle  on  this  con- 
tinent, is  the  railroad  property,  and  there  is  no  class  of  property 
in  which  we  have  a  deeper  interest. 

il  l  Now,  then,  what  is  the  fuss  about  this  matter?'  The 
fuss  about  this  matter  is  just  here  :  that  Europe  is  emptying 
her  people,  that  she  does  not  want,  here — her  convicts,  her 
Communists,  her  Nihilists — by  the  ten  thousands  ;  they  are 
coming  here  for  no  good,  and  they  seek  the  employment  con- 
genial to  them.  You  say  :  '  What  is  to  be  done  ?  They  will 
get  employed/  Yes,  they  will  get  employed.  4  Our  railroads 
will  not  know  them,  and  so  will  hire  them/  Yes,  they  will 
hire  them.  And  then  these  men  will  foment  disturbance  ; 
they  will  strive  to  create  strikes  ;  they  will  strive  to  embarrass 
all  healthy  business  operations  ;  they  will  do  it  secretly  ;  dark- 
ness is  what  they  like.  *  Well,  then,  what  is  the  remedy  ?  * 
I  asked  a  business  man  this  question  last  night — a  man  of  large 
experience  and  extensive  travel.  I  spread  this  thing  out  before 
him  carefully,  and  said:  *  Now,  sir,  what  is  the  remedy  V 
He  was  not  a  Christian.  He  moved  uneasily  in  his  seat  two  or 
three  times,  and  said  :  *  There  is  none  ;  I  do  not  see  any.' 
But,  friends,  there  is  just  one  remedy  ;  I  see  no  other.  This 
country  can  be  saved  from  this  thing  only  in  one  way — by  the 
Power  that  upholds  the  world,  and  by  no  other  power.  We 
must  oppose  this  satanic  influence  by  that  Power  which  alone 
has  proved  greater  than  the  power  of  Satan." 

Receiver  J.  H.  Devereux,  of  Cleveland,  attended,  as  deputy 
from  Ohio,  the  General  Convention  of  the  Protestant  Episcopal 
Church,  held  in  Boston,  October,  1877.  Alluding  to  the  rail- 
road strikes  of  last  summer,  and  the  call  suggested  by  them 
for  greater  effort  by  the  churches  among  certain  classes  in  the 
community,  Mr.  Devereux  said  : 


THE    WOKK    AMO^G    RAILBOAD   MEW.  149 

"  I  propose  to  give  you,  at  the  instance  of  sundry  members 
of  the  Convention,  some  personal  experience  and  some  per- 
sonal knowledge  on  the  subject  covered  by  the  resolution  in- 
troduced by  the  Lay  Deputy  from  Pennsylvania. 

"  West  of  Pittsburg,  and  a  little  north  of  it,  upon  the  lake 
shore,  is  a  city  of  150,000  inhabitants,  with  a  suburban  popula- 
tion of  perhaps  five  thousand.  The  main  trunk  lines  of  railroads 
running  through  tho  country  traverse  it.  It  is  well  known  as 
a  prosperous  commercial  and  manufacturing  centre. 

"  Now,  right  here,  gentlemen  of  the  Convention,  understand 
that  the  class  I  am  speaking  of  at  this  time  is  not  the  pauper 
or  the  vicious  element.  It  is  a  vast  assembly  of  men,  scattered 
from  the  Atlantic  to  the  Pacific,  from  the  Lakes  to  the  Gulf, 
numbering  half  a  million  or  more.  The  politicians  will  tell  you 
they  are  voters.  They  are  a  class  of  men  who,  less  than  any 
others,  have  no  opinion  that  is  forced  upon  them  by  prescription. 
Particularly  is  this  true  in  regard  to  their  religious  opinions. 
You  must  give  a  reason,  and  a  very  good  one,  for  whatever 
belief  you  arc  desirous  to  impress  upon  them.  I  am  speaking 
of  a  class  of  men  who  are  mighty  in  their  passion  when  they 
are  aroused,  and  gentle  when  their  hearts  are  touched.  On 
Monday  morning,  in  this  city  that  I  am  speaking  of,  a  railway 
officer,  responsible  for  two  roads  and  for  about  six  thousand  men 
upon  them,  went  to  his  office.  Of  course  he  knew  much  that 
had  happened  before  he  went  there.  He  heard  on  that  Mon- 
day morning,  that  on  the  public  square  of  that  city,  the  Satur- 
day night  before,  there  had  been  a  meeting  of  so-called  laboring 
men,  though  they  were  not  so,  in  the  higher  sense.  There 
had  been  some  twenty-five  hundred  men  assembled  there,  and 
it  had  been  deliberately  proposed  to  go  from  there  to  Euclid 
Avenue,  and  sack  the  city.  The  next  morning  (Sunday)  came 
the  news  from  the  City  of  Pittsburg. 

"  On  Monday  morning,  the  air  was  quivering  with  excite- 
ment, the  whole  city  seemed  to  be  paralyzed  ;  and  well  it  might 
be>  for  there  were  in  that  city  only  two  hundred  policemen, 
and  no  military  force  worth  speaking  of.  Two  lines  of  road 


150  SAM    HOBART. 

were  in  the  hands  of  those  who  were  called  *  strikers.'  Not  a 
single  wheel  was  moved,  business  was  paralyzed,  and  apprehen- 
sion sat  upon  the  face  of  every  man. 

"  When  this  railroad  officer  found  out  how  things  were,  and 
how  the  men  upon  the  other  road  were  taking  things  into  their 
own  hands,  he  also  learned  that  his  own  two  roads,  upon  which 
his  men  yet  stood  firm,  were  being  threatened  by  a  mob,  or  a 
crowd,  if  you  please,  from  the  striking  roads  ;  and  he  learned 
that  they  were  coming  down  there  to  force  his  men  to  quit 
work,  and  to  enforce  what  they  called  '  their  rights/  That 
was  a  supreme  moment  ;  it  was  a  moment  for  action.  It  took 
but  a  short  time  to  determine  that,  God  helping  him,  that 
President  would  prevent  the  mass  meeting  which  it  was  deter- 
mined by  these  men  that  they  should  hold  on  the  square.  Ten 
thousand  men,  at  least,  would  have  been  there,  more  or  less 
excited,  more  or  less  drunk,  more  or  less  angry.  What  could 
two  hundred  policemen  do  against  such  a  force  as  that  ?  It 
was  not  a  crowd  of  men  who  could  be  driven  by  clubs.  Many 
of  them  had  been  soldiers,  and  were  used  to  arms.  Moreover, 
they  were  ignorant,  and  they  believed  they  were  right  ;  and  if 
a  man  believes  he  is  right,  he  will  sometimes  sacrifice  his  life. 
I  firmly  believe  that  if  force  had  been  used  at  that  time,  a  great 
amount  of  blood  would  have  been  shed,  and  Cleveland  would 
have  been  in  ashes.  I  draw  no  fancy  picture. 

"  What  did  this  railway  officer  do  ?  He  went  down  sub- 
stantially alone,  only  one  officer  of  the  road  going  with  him. 
As  he  approached  the  shops,  he  saw  the  procession,  and  his 
own  men  being  forced  out  two  by  two.  It  looked  bad  enough. 
Men  from  the  other  roads  had  determined  that  the  men  em- 
ployed upon  his  roads  should  not  work.  They  were  gathered 
in  the  machine-shop.  There  were  some  three  thousand.  The 
railroad  officer  stood  upon  a  platform.  And  what  did  he  urge  ? 
Simply  the  gospel  of  Jesus  Christ.  He  held  up  Christ  to  these 
men,  and  appealed  to  them  as  Christian  men,  urging  the  prin- 
ciples of  the  gospel  as  his  argument  against  their  proceedings. 

"  The  passions  of  the  men  were  very  strong,  but  he  had  not 


THE    WORK    AMONG    RAILROAD    MEN.  151 

spoken  long  before  sour  faces  grew  brighter,  and  the  evidence 
of  passion  died  out.  All  went  down,  for  Jesus  had  been  ap- 
pealed to.  Jesus  spoke  to  these  men.  They  became  silent, 
and  when  the  matter  was  put  to  vote  by  the  leader  of  the 
crowd,  i  Will  you  stand  by  the  proposition  of  the  President  ? ' 
there  was  a  loud  shout  of  4Aye  !  '  When  the  question  came 
whether  any  were  opposed  to  the  proposition  of  the  President, 
there  was  the  silence  of  the  grave.  Then  this  railroad  officer 
said  to  these  men,  '  Now  that  you  know  you  are  in  the  right 
way,  I  want  you  to  swear  to  me  an  oath  this  day.  Those  men 
who  will  regard  the  law,  who  will  not  commit  any  acts  of  vio- 
lence, who  will  protect  every  life  and  every  piece  of  property  in 
this  city,  as  if  it  were  his  own,  hold  up  your  right  hand. '  And 
every  man's  hand  went  up. 

*  '  That  was  the  wall  that  was  drawn  around  that  city,  and  I 
tell  you,  no  set  of  men  could  prevail  against  it. 

"  I  shall  not  go  into  detail,  although  I  want  it  to  be  under- 
stood generally  that  there  was  no  miracle  about  this.  This 
work  was  not  the  outgrowth  of  a  moment,  but  of  years.  These 
men  were  ready  to  hear  this  word,  for  they  had  been  prepared 
to  hear  it.  One  man's  conversion  had  been  the  cause  of  lead- 
ing thousands  of  railroad  men  to  Christ,  and  thus  it  was  easier 
to  address  them.  I  have  been  reproached  since  I  have  been 
here,  because  I  have  given  encouragement  to  the  Young  Men's 
Christian  Association.  It  was  through  their  influence  that  this 
change  had  been  brought  about.  I  am  here  neither  to  praise 
nor  to  apologize  for  any  institution.  I  am  here  because  I  am 
of  the  Church  of  Christ — of  this  church  ;  and  I  am  speaking  of 
the  progress  of  the  work  of  the  church,  and  of  the  need  of  mis- 
sionary effort  existing  in  the  West. 

"  Now,  what  we  propose  to  do  is  this  :  to  extend  this  rail- 
road department  of  the  Young  Men's  Christian  Associations 
throughout  the  country  among  the  railroad  men  ;  and  we  say 
to  the  railroad  officials  :  '  Gentlemen,  if  you  have  a  right  to 
build  a  snow-shed  with  the  company's  money,  when  your  line 
runs  through  the  Sierras  ;  if  you  have  a  right  to  expend  money 


152  SAM    HOBAKT. 

in  any  other  way  to  prevent  destruction  and  detention,  then 
you  have  the  right,  yea,  more,  you  are  solemnly  bound  to  pro- 
tect us  whose  interests  have  been  handed  over  into  your  hands 
— our  bodies,  our  property,  our  families,  everything.  And 
you  not  only  have  the  right,  but  a  solemn  responsibility  to  take 
care  that  these  influences  which  have  been  found  to  be  saving 
influences  in  the  past  shall  be  perpetuated  and  extended  on 
every  line  of  railroad  that  carries  our  food  and  our  fuel  to  us. 
We  demand  it  of  you. '  And  what  reply  shall  they  make  ? 
The  logic  of  events  has  closed  the  mouth  of  every  one  to  any 
other  reply  than  '  Yes/  There  is  no  other  answer. " 

FURTHER  TESTIMONY  CONCERNING  THE  LATE  RAILROAD 
STRIKES. — From  the  report  of  the  Pennsylvania  State  Young 
Men's  Christian  Association  Convention  (October,  1877),  in 
Harper's  Weekly,  we  extract  the  following  : 

"  Mr.  W.  R.  Davenport,  an  old  railroad  man,  gave  the  testi- 
mony that,  during  the  Pennsylvania  Railroad  strike,  the  Chris- 
tian men  were  those  upon  whom  the  railroad  officers  relied. 
The  most  influential  men  were  the  Christians,  and  their  in- 
fluence was  greatly  felt."  Another  officer,  holding  a  position 
of  responsibility  in  railroad  service  at  a  place  where  the  Rail- 
road Young  Men's  Christian  Association  has  long  been  active, 
writes  :  "  In  regard  to  the  part  Christian  men  took  in  the 
strike,  I  can  speak  of  what  I  know.  These  men  were  forced 
to  quit  work,  but  openly  denounced  the  action  of  the  strikers  ; 
and  all  went  to  their  homes,  except  a  few  who  stayed  among 
the  strikers  to  wield  all  the  influence  for  good  that  lay  in  their 
power.  Through  the  influence  of  these  men  the  saloons  were 
closed,  and  all  riotousness  was  kept  down.  Men  who  are  not 
Christians  have  come  to  me  personally,  and  of  their  own  free 
will  said  the  Christian  work  among  railroad  employes  has  saved 
more  than  it  will  cost  to  prosecute  this  work  for  a  hundred 
years.  Religious  services  were  held  every  day  and  evening 
during  the  strike  ;  and  I  believe  many  of  the  men  will  date 
their  conversion  from  those  meetings.  It  was  through  the  in- 
fluence of  Christian  railroad  men  that  strikers  returned  to 


THE    WORK    AMONG    RAILROAD    MEN.  153 

work."  An  officer  of  two  railroads  in  Columbus,  Ohio, 
writes  :  "  The  Christian  railroad  men  in  this  place  did  not,  to 
my  knowledge,  take  any  part  in  the  strike. "  A  Christian 
gentleman,  who  had  the  best  opportunity  to  see  and  know, 
writes  from  the  same  place  :  "  I  do  not  know  of  a  single  rail- 
road man,  who  professes  to  be  a  Christian,  that  took  any  active 
part  in  the  strike.  One  was  arrested  for  participating  in  it» 
but,  upon  trial,  fully  exonerated."  A  manager  of  an  impor- 
tant railroad  in  one  of  our  large  cities,  where  there  was  a  total 
suspension  of  trains,  writes  :  "  All'  of  our  men  known  to  be 
pronounced  Christians  had  no  sympathy  with  any  lawlessness, 
and  kept  clear  of  it.  They  freely  expressed  their  disapproba- 
tion of  all  such  proceedings,  and  openly  declined  to  take  part 
in  the  same.  There  were  those  among  them  who  took  occa- 
sion respectfully  to  join  in  a  request  for  an  advance  in  wages  ; 
but  it  was  in  the  more  excellent  way  ;  and  when  a  respectful 
answer  was  returned,  showing  good  reasons  why  their  request 
could  not  be  granted  at  this  time,  they  cheerfully  accepted  the 
situation,  and  continued  to  perform  their  duties.  These  care- 
fully disclaimed  any  intention  to  strike,  and  though  compelled, 
during  the  most  threatening  period,  to  quit  work,  they  returned 
when  notified,  without  waiting  fora  reply  to  their  petition." 
An  officer  of  the  Pennsylvania  Company,  in  the  same  city, 
writes  :  "  I  have  to  report  that  the  inquiries  started  to  find 
out  what  part  the  Christian  railroad  men  took  in  the  strike 
have  resulted  in  obtaining  very  satisfactory  reports  ;  and  that 
is  that  not  one  of  the  men  who  attend  the  noon-day  meetings 
at  our  shops  took  any  part  whatever  in  the  strike  or,  either  by 
word  or  action,  encouraged  the  strikers,  but,  on  the  contrary, 
they  kept  up  their  prayer-meetings  throughout  all  the  excite- 
ment." A  gentleman  of  Martinsburg  says  of  the  meeting  of 
the  Railroad  Young  Men's  Christian  Association,  on  the  Sab- 
bath afternoon  when  the  trouble  was  most  serious:  "The 
attendance  was  large,  and  the  meeting  one  of  the  most  impres- 
sive I  ever  attended.  What  touched  me  particularly  was  the 
many  earnest  prayers  of  the  railroad  men  for  the  officers  of  the 


154  SAM    HOBART. 

railroad  company,  that  they  might  be  given  wisdom  to  guide 
them  in  their  trying  positions,  to  do  just  what  was  right,  and 
that  they,  as  employes,  might  be  restrained  from  all  excess  and 
violence,  and  prove  faithful  to  their  duties."  A  railroad  man 
in  Baltimore  writes  :  "  I  am  satisfied  that  none  who  were 
looked  up  to  as  Christian  men  before  the  strike  were  at  all  en- 
gaged in  it. "  A  member  of  the  Railroad  Young  Men's  Chris- 

on  o 

tian  Association,  of  Altoona,  Pa.,  writes  :  "  It  is  with  gn  at 
pleasure  that  I  bear  testimony  to  the  calmness,  discretion,  and 
good  conduct  of  our  Christian  railroad  men  during  the  excite- 
ment caused  by  the  strike.  Our  religious  meetings  were  held 
as  usual,  and  were  quite  well  attended.  Although  quite  a 
number  of  railroad  employes  have  been  discharged  for  taking 
part  in  the  strike,  I  am  glad  to  say  that  no  active  member  of 
our  Association  is  among  the  number/'  A  superintendent  in 
the  extensive  railroad  shops  of  one  of  the  trunk  lines  writes  : 
44  I  don't  know  of  one  Christian  that  took  part  in  the  strike. 
We  found  the  Christian  men  ready  to  work  ;  and  those  that 
were  made  watchmen  during  the  week  of  the  strike  were  chiefly 
the  Christian  men."  From  the  same  point,  one  who  has  been 
in  the  employ  of  the  company  twenty-five  years  writes  : 
"  There  was  not  one  of  the  Christian  men  here,  who,  during 
the  strike,  was  not  on  duty.  They  went  home  peaceably, 
and  stayed  until  sent  for  to  come  to  work." 

These  facts  make  us  turn  with  delight  to  the  origin  and 
growth  of  the  Railroad  Department  of  the  Young  Men's  Chris- 
tian Association  as  outlined  in  the  report  of  Edwin  D.  Inger- 
soll,  Railroad  Secretary  of  the  International  Committee. 

"  A  library  for  railroad  men  was  established  by  officers  of 
the  Passumpsic  Railroad  Company  at  St.  Johnsbury,  Vt.,  in 
1850,  another  by  officials  of  the  Vermont  Central  Railroad 
Company,  at  Northfield,  Vt.,  in  1852,  and  another  by  Messrs. 
Peto,  Betts  &  Brassey,  contractors,  while  building  the  Vic- 
toria Bridge  at  Montreal,  in  1854.  Many  others  have  since 
been  established  throughout  the  country.  A  few  of  them  sur- 
vive. The  great  majority  of  these  library  organizations  are 


THE   WORK    AMONG    RAILROAD   MEN.  155 

dead,  and  in  many  cases  nothing  can  now  be  found  to  show 
that  they  ever  existed.  With  possibly  one  or  two  exceptions, 
the  interest  in  and  use  of  the  libraries  that  are  still  in  existence 
are  less  than  they  were  at  first.  As  a  rule,  they  were  used 
only  by  men  of  good  habits  and  of  some  literary  taste.  There 
was  not  sufficient  social  or  other  influence  connected  with  them 
to  draw  men  away  from  evil  resorts  ;  there  was  no  aggressive 
reformatory  force. 

"  At  Cleveland,  O.,  in  April,  1872,  there  was  a  union 
formed  on  this  old  plan  of  reading-rooms  and  libraries  for  rail- 
road men,  with  the  active  Christian  work  of  the  Young  Men's 
Christian  Association.  A  secretary  was  employed  to  do  what 
one  man  could  do  to  make  the  library  and  reading-rooms 
attractive  to  railroad  men.  He  went  out  after  men  who  did 
not  come  to  the  rooms  until  personally  invited,  or  until  they 
came  to  return  the  repeated  calls  of  a  personal  friend.  He 
visited  them  in  their  homes  and  in  the  places  of  their  daily 
toil  :  on  the  engine,  in  the  caboose,  in  office,  shop,  yard,  or 
switch  house.  Wherever  a  railroad  man  could  be  found,  he 
got  a  pleasant  word  and  a  hearty  invitation  to  come  to  the 
rooms  when  off  duty.  If  sick  or  injured,  at  home  or  home- 
less, whatever  his  position,  creed,  or  nationality,  the  railroad 
employe  received,  not  only  the  best  surgical  and  hospital  attend- 
ance, but  the  loving  personal  service  of  Christian  brotherhood. 

'*  But  this  service  was  not  limited  to  one  man's  ability.  The 
Association  idea  was  developed  and  utilized,  and  the  efforts  of 
Christian  men  in  railroad  service  united,  to  carry  out  and  put 
in  operation  the  means  and  methods  of  the  Young  Men's  Chris- 
tian Association.  Committees  were  formed,  trained,  and  set 
at  work.  Gradually,  but  steadily  and  surely,  the  secretary 
multiplied  his  effort  and  ability,  thirty,  sixty,  or  a  hundred 
fold,  by  the  voluntary  efforts  of  men,  whom  he  had  interested 
one  by  one,  and  then  formed  into  working  committees.  The 
secret  of  his  power  was  found  to  be  not  so  much  in  his  personal 
work  as  in  his  ability  to  find,  train,  stimulate  and  help  other 
men,  and  set  and  keep  them  at  work.  Now,  committees  have 


156  SAM    HOBART. 

charge  of  Sunday  services  and  cottage  meetings  in  the  homes 
of  railroad  men  ;  committees  of  their  comrades  visit  and 
minister  to  sick  and  injured  men  ;  committees  procure  libra- 
ries ;  committees  arrange  entertainments,  lectures,  concerts, 
medical  talks,  and  practical  talks  on  topics  relating  to  railroad 
service.  In  short,  the  moral  power  of  the  best  men  in  railroad 
service  is  united  and  made  an  effective  force  to  reach  and  in- 
fluence the  whole  body  of  railroad  men,  including  employes  of 
express,  telegraph  and  palace  car  companies.  Educational 
classes  are  formed,  or  secretaries  and  their  assistants  give  pri- 
vate instruction  to  men  who  cannot  attend  classes  in  penman- 
ship, arithmetic,  telegraphy,  stenography,  mechanical  and  free- 
hand drawing.  Many  men  whose  early  educational  advantages 
were  limited  have  been  helped  to  hold  their  positions,  or  to 
promotion.  Men  physically  disabled  for  train  service  have  been 
taught  telegraphy  or  stenography,  and  so  are  earning  better 
support  for  themselves  and  their  families  than  they  earned  as 
brakemen  before  they  were  crippled.  Enthusiasm  is  kindled. 
The  rooms  of  the  Railroad  Branch  of  the  Association  become 
social  headquarters  for  railroad  men  ;  conversation  and  amuse- 
ment rooms  attract  men  who  have  no  use  for  prayer-meetings, 
classes,  or  even  for  reading-rooms  and  libraries.  Gradually 
they  become  interested  in  social  or  musical  entertainments,  or 
in  illustrated  newspapers  and  magazines.  Each  is  encouraged 
by  the  secretary  to  read  something,  and  his  attention  is  called 
to  something  that  will  interest  him.  Soon  amusements  are  less 
attractive  or  needful.  He  has  learned  to  desire  and  use  some- 
thing better.  Thought  is  stimulated.  His  social  instincts  are 
satisfied  with  healthful  associations.  Beer  gardens  and  billiard 
rooms  are  less  attractive  than  our  rooms.  The  man  becomes  a 
better  man,  a  better  citizen,  a  more  intelligent,  faithful  and 
loyal  servant  of  the  corporation. 

"  Such  results  in  various  places  have  led  railroad  managers 
to  say  of  this  work,  '  It  pays  spiritually,  it  pays  morally,  and 
it  pays  financially/  and  to  emphasize  this  testimony  by  largely 
increased  appropriations. 


THE    WORK    AMONG    RAILROAD    MEN.  157 

11  The  true  place  of  these  organizations,  as  branches  of  the 
Young  Men's  Christian  Associations  in  their  respective  cities, 
has  been  definitely  settled.  After  numerous  experiments  in 
other  directions,  both  by  the  companies  and  by  the  men — now 
in  the  opening  of  reading  and  bath  rooms  independent  of  all 
.religious  influence  or  control,  again  in  the  establishment  of 
separate  organizations,  without  affiliation  with  the  local  Asso- 
ciation or  the  International  Committee  of  these  societies — the 
great  advantages  in  stability  atid  efficiency  to  be  derived  from 
union  with  the  Associations  are  at  present  almost  universally 
recognized  and  appreciated  by  both  employes  and  officials. 

"  During  the  first  five  years,  1872-' 77,  organizations  were 
formed  at  Altoona,  Pa.,  Baltimore,  Md.,  New  York,  Colum- 
bus, O.,  and  Detroit,  Mich,,  the  two  latter  employing  secreta- 
ries. Interest  was  awakened  and  something  done  toward  or- 
ganization at  Jersey  City,  N.  J. ,  Springfield  and  Boston,  Mass. , 
and  at  Toronto,  and  St.  Thomas,  Ont.  Mr.  Lang  Sheaff, 
whose  salary  was  paid  by  a  few  gentlemen  of  Cleveland,  visited 
these  places  in  1875-' 76,  under  the  direction  of  the  Inter- 
national Committee.  The  good  results  of  that  visitation  are 
still  apparent. 

"  In  January,  1877,  Mr.  Morris  K.  Jesup,  of  the  Interna- 
tional Committee,  procured  from  the  President  and  Vice-Presi- 
dent  of  the  New  York  Central  and  Hudson  River,  and  the 
Presidents  of  the  Pennsylvania  and  the  Baltimore  and  Ohio 
Railroad  Companies,  contributions,  which,  with  his  own,  justi- 
fied the  Committee  in  employing  their  present  Railroad  Secre- 
tary. 

' '  At  that  time  only  three  local  secretaries  were  employed — 
at  Cleveland,  Columbus,  and  Detroit — ten  railroad  companies 
contributing  less  than  $3000  a  year  toward  their  support. 

"  In  the  past  five  years,  1877-'82,  the  principal  railroad 
centres  of  the  United  States  and  British  Provinces  have  been 
visited,  many  of  them  very  many  times.  Several  strong  or- 
ganizations have  been  formed,  employing  from  one  to  five 
secretaries  and  assistants.  The  number  of  secretaries  and 


158  8AM    HOBART. 

assistants  is  now  (June  5th,  1882)  forty-six,  with  money  waiting 
for  six  more,  and  support  partially  secured  for  ten  or  twelve 
more.  Contributions  of  more  than  $50,000  are  already  secured 
for  the  support  of  the  local  work  for  the  current  year. 

"  There  have  been  some  wrecks,  and  some  other  organiza- 
tions have  failed  to  come  up  to  the  measure  of  their  need  or 
opportunity. 

"  The  service  on  the  part  of  secretaries  has  been  greatly  im- 
proved. The  standard  of  five  years  ago  no  longer  satisfies  rail- 
road officials  or  the  International  Committee.  Some  men  of 
rare  tact,  consecration,  and  ability  have  been  led  into  the  work, 
and  are  being  greatly  blessed  in  it  ;  others  have  been  moder- 
ately successful  and  are  trying  faithfully  to  meet  the  demands 
of  the  work.  Those  who  think  that  they  know  all  that  there 
is,  or  that  they  need  to  know,  or  whose  education  is  deficient, 
or  who  do  not  manifest  tact  or  adaptability  to  this  peculiar 
work,  or  who  are  not  born  leaders,  are  gradually  dropping  out  of 
the  service.  On  the  whole,  the  secretarial  force  in  this  depart- 
ment is  not  only  all  that  can  reasonably  be  expected  for  the 
salaries  paid,  but  is  a  vigorous,  able,  and  consecrated  band  of 
pioneers  in  a  new  field  of  Christian  effort,  whose  labors  have 
already  called  out  strong  testimonials  to  the  value  of  the  results 
accomplished. 

"  In  Chicago,  eleven  Presidents,  Vice-Presidents,  General 
Managers  and  General  Superintendents  of  leading  Railroad 
Companies,  compose  the  Advisory  Committee  of  the  Railroad 
Department  of  the  Young  Men's  Christian  Association.  They 
testify  in  the  strongest  terras  to  the  value  of  the  work  done, 
and  recommend  that  the  amount  expended  last  year  ($7500)  in 
this  department  of  the  Chicago  Association  be  largely  increased. 

"  In  Albany  and  Troy,  N.  Y.,  Springfield,  Mass.,  Rutland, 
Vt.,  and  other  places,  leading  citizens  are  ser\7ing  on  commit- 
tees with  railroad  officials  and  men  in  the  management  of  this 
work. 

"  At  Galion,  0.,  East  St.  Louis,  111.,  and  Elmira,  N.  Y., 
buildings  have  been  erected  specially  for  and  dedicated  to  the 


THE   WORK   AMOXG    RAILROAD   MEN.  159 

work  of  Young  Men's  Christian  Associations  among  railroad 
men.  Similar  buildings  are  about  to  be  erected  at  Troy,  N.  Y., 
and  St.  Albans,  Vt. 

"  In  Toronto,  at  the  house  of  Hon.  William  McMaster,  sena- 
tor, some  seventy-five  leading  citizens  met  the  secretary  to  hear 
reports  of  and  consult  about  this  work.  The  result  was  the 
appointment  of  a  large  committee  of  the  most  influential  men  in 
public  and  private  life  in  Toronto,  Col.  C.  S.  Gzowski,  A.  D.  C., 
chairman,  to  present  facts  and  testimonials  of  this  work  to 
Managers  of  Canadian  railways,  and  to  presidents  and  direc- 
tors in  England,  and  to  ask  for  similar  appropriations  for  the 
support  of  this  work  on  their  roads.  At  the  request  of  this 
committee,  the  International  Committee  wrote  to  leading  offi- 
cials and  directors  of  railroads,  at  places  where  this  work  had 
been  in  operation  long  enough  to  enable  them  to  estimate  its 
worth,  for  their  opinion  of  the  value  of  the  work  as  an  invest- 
ment by  railroad  companies.  Replies  came  from  every  point, 
and  are  unanimous  in  tenor  and  spirit,  all  testifying  to  the 
value  of  the  work  and  its  wholesome  influence  upon  railroad 
employes.  Similar  testimony  to  the  value  of  the  work  spirit- 
ually, in  additions  to  churches  of  men  who  were  beyond  the 
reach  of  the  church  in  any  other  department  of  its  effort,  and 
of  church  members  aroused  to  newness  of  life  and  service, 
comes  from  pastors  and  church  officers  in  all  parts  of  the 
country. 

"  The  secretary  has  travelled  more  than  30,000  miles  a  year, 
made  public  addresses,  held  conferences  with  officials  and  men, 
and  written  letters  till  it  was  impossible  to  keep  a  record  of  their 
number,  and  yet  is  utterly  unable  to  meet  the  calls  that  come 
for  help  in  the  organization  and  supervision  of  this  work. 

"  Men  are  willing  and  anxious  to  take  hold  of  the  work, 
money  is  forthcoming  to  support  secretaries  and  erect  build- 
ings for  local  work  at  various  points,  promising  young  men 
are  giving  themselves  to  the  work  for  life  as  secretaries,  and 
results  are  delayed  for  want  of  intelligent  aid  and  guidance  in 
organization.  Some  places  have  already  suffered,  mistakes 


100  SAM    HOB  ART. 

have  been  made,  and  partial  failures  warn  us  to  he  more  watch- 
ful and  helpful.  The  best  results  appear  where  this  supervi- 
sion has  been  most  constant.  There  is  work  waiting  and 
urgent,  for  at  least  three  secretaries  in  this  department,  while 
as  yet  the  Committee  has  means  to  support  but  one." 

A  brief  history  of  the  railroad  secretary  and  the  work 
achieved  will  appropriately  conclude  the  chapter. 

Edward  D.  Tngersoli  in  1877  was  appointed  Secretary  of  the 
Railway  Branch  of  the  Young  Men's  Christian  Association. 
He  was  born  in  Stockbridge,  Mass.,  June  12th,  1836.  His 
father  was  a  minister  and  related  to  the  great  preacher  who  is 
known  as  the  father  of  the  man  that  has  by  his  infidelity 
earned  the  right  to  wear  the  mantle  of  Thomas  Paine.  As  the 
railroad  secretary  says,  "  the  man  rejected  Christ,  trampled  on 
the  overtures  of  mercy,  and  has  gone  on  from  bad  to  worse 
until  he  has  fought  with  all  his  might  against  God,  as  is  in  the 
nature  of  an  Ingorsoll." 

This  trait  of  character  was  illustrated  by  a  locomotive  engin- 
eer by  the  name  of  Ingersoll  on  one  of  the^roads  in  Ohio.  He 
was  ordered  to  wait  for  the  superintendent's  car  at  a  given 
station.  He  was  told  to  take  it  to  a  given  pkce  as  fast  as  pos- 
sible. There  was  no  bell-rope  to  the  engine,  and  the  superin- 
tendent sat  in  his  car  alone.  The  engineer  started,  put  on 
steam,  and  opened  the  valves  and  let  her  go.  The  passenger 
coach  bounded  and  leaped,  swaying  from  side  to  side,  causing 
the  superintendent  to  be  thrown  from  side  to  side  and  bob  up 
and  down  like  a  ball  shaken  in  a  bottle.  Reaching  the  station 
the  superintendent  came  out,  his  hair  on  end  and  his  face  pale 
•with  fright  and  rage,  saying,  "  What  on  earth  did  you  go  at 
that  rate  for  ?"  "  You  told  me,"  said  the  engineer,  "  to  go 
as  fast  as  I  could,  and  you  ought  not  to  tell  an  Ingersoll  to  do 
that  unless  you  meant  it." 

The  characteristics  of  the  engineer  have  been  conspicuous  in 
the  life  of  the  secretary.  He  began  his  career  as  a  wild  and 
wayward  young  man.  He  entered  Union  College  and  enjoyed 
for  a  time  the  watchful  care  of  Eliphalet  Nott.  its  illustrious 


THE    WOliK    AiiOXU    KA1LROAD    MEX.  101 

president.  He  was  converted  in  1856  and  joined  the  church, 
but  did  nothing  for  years.  He  had  a  name  to  live  hut  was 
dead.  In  1872  he  was  living  in  Cleveland.  Lang  Sheaff,  the 
Secretary  of  the  Young  Men's  Christian  Association,  failing  to 
get  workers  to  go  to  Norwalk,  Ohio,  because  he  had  no  better, 
asked  him  to  go  and  help  in  a  meeting.  This  was  said  on 
Tuesday.  Ingersoll  thought  little  of  the  invitation.  Friday 
came  and  he  was  urged  again  to  go.  He  went.  On  his  way 
the  responsibilities  of  the  work  touched  his  heart  and  awed  his 
spirit.  Depressed  and  bent  with  the  weight  of  the  great  trust 
reposed  in  him  he  entered  the  hall  and  took  his  seat  upon  the 
platform.  The  room  was  crowded  to  the  doors.  He  spoke. 
God  owned  him.  Souls  were  struck  under  conviction.  They 
made  him  stay.  Business  to  him  became  of  no  account.  His 
work  surprised  and  enthused  him.  From  Sunday  to  Thursday 
he  spoke  every  day  with  increasing  power.  Railroad  men  were 
converted  in  large  numbers.  A  patent  case  claimed  his  atten- 
tion in  Cleveland.  lie  returned,  but  God  loosened  the  chains 
of  his  captivity  in  business  and  permitted  him  to  enter  into  the 
service  of  the  Master  untrammelled.  He  returned  to  Norwalk 
and  stayed  a  month.  His  destiny  was  sealed.  His  course  in 
life  was  determined  for  him.  In  1874  he  came  to  Syracuse  and 
became  the  leader  of  the  work  for  the  Young  Men's  Christian 
Association.  There  he  developed  and  revealed  his  power  to 
organize  for  victory,  and  there  he  remained  until  January, 
1877,  when  he  became  railroad  secretary  in  accordance  with  a 
resolution  of  the  International  Committee  passed  in  1875.  To 
him  we  are  largely  indebted  for  the  interest  taken  in  work 
among  employes  by  railroad  corporations.  He  knows  how  to 
appeal  to  employes  and  at  the  same  time  how  to  represent  their 
interests  to  employers.  To-day  the  great  railroad  corporations 
give  their  support  to  this  work  to  an  extent  which  promises 
great  future  harvests.  The  leaders  recognize  the  fact  that  drill 
a  man  as  best  you  may  still  you  must  depend  in  the  last  resort 
on  his  own  intelligence  and  will.  Sobriety  and  moral  principle 
contribute  their  quota  toward  the  production  of  dividends,  and 


162  SAM    HOBAKT. 

a  good  workman  who  is  also  a  good  man  counts  for  something 
in  financial  estimates.  It  is  important  that  the  hand  on  the 
throttle-valve  be  not  guided  by  a  brain  muddled  with  drink. 
"  No  position,  not  even  leadership  in  battle,  calls  more  impera- 
tively for  firm  nerves,  well-poised  faculties  and  entire  self- 
command.  Railway  corporations  have  souls  enough  to  know 
what  affects  their  purses,  but  we  should  fail  to  do  justice  to 
many  of  the  managers  of  the  great  lines  if  we  did  not  concede 
to  them  a  sincere  interest  in  the  welfare  of  men.  When  Will- 
iam  H.  Vanderbilt  distributed  one  hundred  thousand  dollars 
among  the  servants  of  the  company  of  which  he  is  the  head,  as 
a  token  of  his  appreciation  of  their  fidelity  during  the  week  of 
the  riots,  he  showed  his  sense  of  the  value  of  moral  principle  in 
men  who  work  for  daily  wages.  There  are  instances  of  hero- 
ism in  the  lives  of  these  men,  and  often  in  their  dying."* 

Doc  Simmons,  the  engineer  on  the  New  York  Central  and 
Hudson  River  Railroad,  who  at  the  disaster  at  New  Hamburg 
went  down  with  his  locomotive  and  would  not  leave  it  and  was 
found  with  his  hand  on  the  throttle  ;  Gould,  the  brave  engin- 
eer on  the  Boston  and  Stonington  Railroad,  who  loved  his  wife 
and  signalled  to  her  by  the  whistle  at  night  as  Sam  Hobart 
kissed  his  hand  to  his  when  he  passed,  preferred  death  at  his 
post  to  an  escape  with  added  risk  to  the  passengers — are  thus 
referred  to  by  Bret  Harte  : 

"  And  then  one  night  it  was  heard  no  more, 
From  Stonington  on  Rhode  Island  shore  ; 
And  the  folks  in  Providence  smiled  and  said, 
As  they  turned  in  their  beds,  "  The  engineer 
Has  once  forgotten  his  midnight  cheer. 

One  only  knew, 

To  his  trust  true, 
Gould  lay  under  his  engine  dead  !" 

Heroism  is  heroism  in  men  begrimed  with  oil  and  smoke,  as 
well  as  in  men  who  carry  swords  and  epaulets.  And  if  the 

*  Harper's  Magazine  for  Jan.  1882,  pp.  264-5. 


THE    WORK    AMONG    RAILROAD    MEN".  163 

Christian  Association  address  the  better  side  of  the  natures  of 
this  large  and  growing  class  of  workers,  they  will  render  an 
essential  service  to  society.  The  interest  in  their  welfare  has 
taken  a  very  practical  form.  In  June,  1882,  there  were  read- 
ing-rooms at  thirfy-three  railroad  centres  for  railroad  men,  of 
each  of  which  a  secretary  has  charge.  •  An  aggregate  of 
$30,000  is  annually  appropriated  by  the  companies  for  this 
truly  Christian  labor. 

"  Mr.  Ingersoll,"  says  a  leading  railroad  manager,  "  is  in- 
deed a  busy  man.  Night  and  day  he  travels.  To-day  a  rail- 
road president  wants  him  here  ;  to-morrow  a  manager  summons 
him  there.  He  is  going  like  a  shuttle  back  and  forth  through 
the  country,  weaving  the  web  of  the  Railway  Associations.  In 
Indianapolis  twelve  railroad  companies  aid  in  the  support  of 
this  work  of  benevolence.  In  Chicago,  the  president  of  one  of 
the  leading  roads,  the  general  superintendent  of  another,  and 
other  officials,  have  served  and  are  serving  actively  on  the  Rail- 
way Committee  of  the  Young  Men's  Christian  Association. 
The  stuff  these  men  are  made  of  may  be  seen  from  some  of  the 
reports  to  the  Altoona  Convention.  One  spoke  thus  :  "  About 
twelve  years  ago  we  organized,  in  Stonington,  Conn.,  a  mid- 
night prayer-meeting  of  railroad  men.  It  was  the  hour  before 
the  starting  of  the  steamboat  night  train.  The  first  night  one 
man  was  soundly  converted,  and  continues  a  living  witness  for 
the  truth.  I  run  a  midnight  train  from  Providence,  and  speak 
"almost  every  Sunday,  and  many  of  our  railroad  men  attend.  I 
am  forty-six  years  of  age,  and  have  been  twenty-seven  years  on 
the  road  and  four  years  at  sea.  My  engineer  is  a  Christian,  and 
I  feel  safe  behind  him."  Are  the  passengers  of  the  midnight 
train  worse  off  because  the  engineer  and  conductor  are  such 
men  as  these  ?  A  railroad  secretary  who  represented  Indian- 
apolis said  :  "  A  member  of  our  association  was  killed  last 
week,  and  I  was  called  on  to  bury  him.  It  was  a  very  sad 
duty.  He  was  a  Christian  boy,  and  there  are  men  here  who 
heard  him  pray.  Going  home  from  the  funeral,  one  of  the 
boys,  not  a  Christian,  said  :  '  The  Railroad  Christian  Associa- 


164  SAM    HOHART. 

tioii  is  doing  more  for  our  railroad  men  than  anything  else  in 
the  world. '" 

From  the  Third  International  Conference  Railroad  Depart- 
ment of  1882,  we  make  liberal  extracts  which  bear  upon  this 
subject.  R.  B.  Paul,  Librarian  of  the  New  York  City  Associ- 
ation, says  : 

"  The  founders  and  friends  of  Young  Men's  Christian 
Associations  have  wisely  regarded  the  library  as  an  important 
agency  in  their  work.  It  is  a  tool  indispensable  to  the  best 
and  complete  working  of  a  railroad  association.  What  shall 
we  aim  to  make  the  peculiar  feature  and  excellence  of  this 
library  for  railroad  men  ? «  Evidently  it  should  not  be  com- 
posed of  books  suitable  for  scholars,  philosophers,  and  men  of 
studious  life  ;  nor  will  mere  sentimental  works  like  the  latest 
sensational  novels  answer.  But  the  books  should  be  adapted 
to  the  tastes  of  practical  men  of  common  sense,  who  are  grap- 
pling with  the  stern  realities  of  life,  and  who  want  to  devote 
their  spare  moments  to  reading  which  will  help  to  advance 
them  in  their  work,  and  give  them  agreeable  pastime.  The 
aim  should  be  to  make  the  library  exert  an  elevating  influence 
on  the  men.  In  order  to  do  this  the  grade  of  books  should  be 
a  little  above  the  average  grade  of  the  readers,  not  below  them. 
It  will  then  be  educating  in  its  influence.  We  will  not  attempt 
here  to  specify  the  works  on  general  literature,  science,  etc., 
which  should  characterize  such  a  library,  but  will  content  our- 
selves with  naming  that  class  of  books  which  will  be  specially" 
practical  in  a  railroad  library  and  interesting  to  railroad  men. 
It  will  not  be  amiss  to  say  that  experience  shows  that  the  Bible 
is  the  favorite  book.  Hence  there  should  be  shelves  for  the 
Bible  in  as  many  languages  as  there  will  be;  found  readers,  and 
such  popular  expositions  as  will  invite  a  closer  study  of  the 
Wrord  of  God  and  aid  those  who  are  engaged  in  Christian 
work.  It  is,  however,  to  the  professional  feature  of  books  that 
will  be  of  practical  service  to  engineers,  mechanics,  firemen, 
and  other  employes,  viz.:  books  which  relate  to  the  steam- 
engine,  telegraphy,  civil  engineering  in  some  of  its  branches, 


TUP:    WORK    AMOXG    RAILROAD    MEN.  165 

car  building,  track-laying,  iron,  steel,  color-blindness,  etc. 
Such  books  on  the  shelves  will  entice  many  men  in  subordinate 
positions  to  work  their  way  up  by  study  and  application. 

"We  will  mention  a  few  authorities  on  Railroad  Science, 
naming  those  first  which  are  published  at  a  moderate  price, 
below  five  dollars  : 

"  RAILROAD  SCIENCE. — Auchincloss's  Link  Valve  Motion  ; 
Bourne's  Catechism  of  Steam  Engine  ;  Bourne's  Recent  Im- 
provements in  the  Steam  Engine  ;  Bourne's  Hand-Book  of 
Steam  Engine  ;  Barlow's  Strength  of  Timber  ;  Bender's  Pro- 
portions of  Pins  Used  in  Bridges  ;  also,  Proportions  of  Continu- 
ous Bridges  ;  Barry's  Railway  Appliances  ;  Bauerman's  Metal- 
lurgy of  Iron  ;  Baker's  Actual  Lateral  Pressure  of  Earthworks  ; 
Cluman's  R.R.  Engineer's  Practice  ;  Cooke's  The  New 
Chemistry  ;  Combustion  of  Coal  ;  Car  Builders'  Dictionary 
(R.  R.  Gazette);  Clark's  Works  on  Iron  Bridges  and  Roof 
Structures  ;  Chevereul's  Contrast  of  Colors  ;  Davidson's 
Linear  Drawing  and  Practical  Geometry  ;  Davidson's  Linear 
Drawing  and  Projections  ;  Davidson's  Drawing  for  Machinists 
and  Engineers  ;  Dresser's  Principles  of  Decorative  Design  ; 
Ede's  Management  of  Steel,  5th  ed.,  1873  ;  Engineering 
Specifications  and  Contracts  ;  Fairbairn's  Iron  :  its  History, 
Properties  and  Process  of  Manufacture  ;  Forney's  Catechism 
of  the  Locomotive  ;  Ganot's  Physics,  last  edition  ;  Hamil- 
ton's Useful  Information  for  Railroad  Men  ;  Haswell's  En- 
gineer's and  Mechanic's  Pocket-Book  ;  Kirkman's  Railway 
Accounts,  Revenue  ;  also  Railroad  Expenditures  ;  Lardncr's 
Scientific  Hand-Books  ;  Mahan's  Civil  Engineering  ;  Moore's 
Universal  Assistant,  100,000  Receipts  ;  Molesworth's  Pocket- 
Book  of  Engineering  Formula  ;  Pope's  Modern  Practice  .  of 
the  Telegraph  ;  Richards'  Steam  Engine  Indication,  by  C.  T. 
Porter  ;  Reynolds's  Locomotive  Engine  ;  Reynolds's  Railway 
Brakes  ;  Rankine's  Rules  and  Tables  ;  Rood's  Modern  Chro- 
matics ;  Shreve's  Treatise  on  the  Strength  of  Bridges  and 
Roofs;  Simms's  Practical  Tunnelling;  Spon,  E.,  Workshop 
Receipts  ;  Stewart,  Balfour,  Lessons  in  Elementary  Physics  ; 


166  .          SAM    HOBAUT. 

Stewart,  Balfour,  Conservation  of  Energy  ;  Stewart,  Balfour, 
Elementary  Treatise  on  Heat  ;  Thurston's  History  of  the 
Growth  of  the  Steam  Engine  ;  Thurston's  Frictions  and  Lubri- 
cation ;  Thrnpp's  History  of  Coaches  ;  Tyndall  on  Heat  as  a 
Mode  of  Motion  ;  Welch's  Designing  Valve  Gearing  ;  Wilson 
(Robert),  Treatise  on  Steam  Boilers.  Two  works  by  F.  B. 
Gardner,  published  by  the  Hub  Publishing  Co.,  New  York, 
will,  we  doubt  not,  be  found  useful  to  painters,  viz  :  44  Les- 
sons in  Lettering/'  and  "Studies  in  Scrolling."  A  few 
higher  priced  works  are  very  desirable  ;  we  append  the  prices  : 
Appleton's  Encyclopaedia  of  Drawing,  $10  ;  Ball's  F^lementary 
Mechanics,  $4;  Clark's  Manual  of  Rules,  Tulles,  etc.,  for 
Mechanical  Engineers,  $7.50  ;  History  and  Description  of  the 
Pennslyvania  R.R.,  illustrated,  $20  ;  Rankine's  Civil  Engineer- 
ing, $6.50  ;  Stoney's  Theory  of  Strains  in  Girders,  $12.50  ; 
Trautwine's  Civil  Engineer's  Pocket-Book,  $5  ;  Vose's  Man- 
ual for  R.R.  Engineeis  and  Engineering  Students,  $12.50. 
To  these  should  be  added  :  Knight's  Mechanical  Dictionary, 
$24,  or  Appleton's  ;  Spon's  Dictionary  of  Engineering,  say 
$45  ;  Weale's  Series  of  Scientific  Works  contain  a  number 
that  would  be  suitable  for  such  a  collection. 

44  The  question  of  color-blindness  among  railroad  men  is  one 
of  vital  importance  to  the  great  travelling  public,  one  in  which 
personal  safety  or  peril  is  involved.  We  know  of  but  two 
treatises  in  English  on  this  subject,  but  every  railway  library 
should  have  one  or  both.  The  earliest  treatise  is  by  Prof. 
Holmgren,  of  Upsala,  Sweden,  and  was  published  in  1877, 
entitled,  4  Color  Blindness  and  its  Relations  to  Railroads  and 
the  Marine.'  A  translation  was  published  in  the  report  for 
1877  of  the  Smithsonian  Institute.  Since  Prof.  Holmgren's 
work  was  published  we  have  had  Dr.  Jeffries'  *  Color  Blind- 
ness, its  Dangers  and  its  Detection,'  in  which  he  copies  a  good 
part  of  Prof.  Holmgren's  book  ;  but  Dr.  Jeffries  has  made 
10,000  tests  of  his  own,  of  which  he  gives  the  results. 

44  But  we  must  not  forget  works  of  a  more  entertaining 
and  general  character,  that  will  relieve  the  leisure  hours 


THE   WORK    AMONG    RAILROAD    MEN.  167 

of  the  railroad  man,  and  awaken  in  him  more  ardor  for  his 
work. 

"  RAILROAD  LITERATURE. — Adams,  C.  F.  Jr.,  Railroads  : 
Their  Origin  and  Problems  ;  Adams,  C.  F.  Jr.,  Chapters  of 
Erie  ;  Adams,  C.  F. -Jr.,  Notes  on  Railroad  Accidents  ;  Audu- 
bon,  Life  of  ;  Beckrnan's  History  of  Inventions  ;  Black  we!  Pa 
Great  Facts  ;  Brassey,  Thomas,  Life  of  ;  Brunei,  Isambard  K., 
Life  of  ;  Brunei,  Mark  Isambard,  Life  of  ;  Craik's  Pursuit  of 
Knowledge  under  Difficulties  ;  Edgar's  Boyhood  of  Great 
Men  ;  Edison  and  his  Inventions  ;  English  Hearts  and  English 
Hands  ;  Fouchaud's  Lives  of  Illustrious  Mechanics  ;  Howe's 
Memoirs  of  the  most  Eminent  Mechanics  ;  Light  for  the  Line, 
or  Life  of  Thomas  Ward  ;  Locke,  Joseph,  Life  of  ;  Men  who 
have  Made  Themselves  ;  Railways  (in  Library  of  Wonders)  ; 
Read,  Nathan,  His  Invention  of  the  High  Pressure  Engine  ; 
Reynolds's  Engine  Driving  (English  book)  ;  Reynolds's  The 
Model  Locomotive  Engineer  (English  book)  ;  Rogers's  The 
Law  of  the  Road,  or  Wrongs  and  Rights  of  a  Traveller  ; 
Smiles's  Brief  Biographies  ;  Smiles's  Industrial  Biography  ; 
Smiles's  Lives  of  the  Engineers,  in  5  vols.  $12.50  ;  Smiles's 
Self-Help,  Character  ;  Smiles's  Thrift  ;  Stephenson,  Robert, 
Life,  by  J.  C.  Jeaifreson  ;  Stimson's  History  of  the  Express 
Companies  and  Origin  of  American  Railroads  ;  Stuart,  C.  R., 
Lives  of  Civil  and  Military  Engineers  of  America  ;  Taylor's 
The  World  on  Wheels  ;  Timbs,  J.,  Inventors  and  Discover- 
ers ;  Timbs,  J.,  Wonderful  Inventions  ;  Trevithick,  Robert, 
Life  of,  with  an  Account  of  his  Inventions,  by  F.  Trevithick  ; 
Tweedie's  The  Life  and  Works  of  Earnest  Men  ;  Worcester, 
Second  Marquis,  Life  of,  with  Century  of  Inventions  ;  Wrig- 
ley's  The  Workingraan's  Way  to  Wealth  ;  Wynne,  J.,  Emi- 
nent Scientific  Men. 

"  Many,  if  not  all,  of  the  scientific  publications  named,  can 
be  purchased  at  Van  Nostrand's  Scientific  Bookstore,  or  at 
E.  Spon's,  New  York  City.  We  have  indicated  with  as  much 
fulness  as  our  space  will  allow  the  lines  of  books  for  such  a 
library  as  will  meet  the  requirements  of  railroad  men." 


168  SAM   HOB  ART. 

O.  R.  Stockwell,  Railroad  Secretary,  New  York,  gives  his 
experience  : 

"  When  I  went  as  secretary  to  New  York  City,  the  Rail- 
road Branch  had  no  membership.  The  Company  was  contrib- 
uting liberally,  but  some  felt  that  the  men  would  be  driven 
from  the  rooms  if  they  were  asked  to  contribute  to  the  work. 
We  arranged  for  a  sustaining  membership,  the  men  contribut- 
ing just  as  they  feel  able  ;  and  the  result  is  that  we  have 
secured  a  membership  of  250,  the  annual  income  from  which  is 
about  $600.  The  attendance,  which  the  year  previous  was 
about  2500  monthly,  has  now  increased  to  over  3000. 

"  In  attempting  a  Bible  Class  we  at  first  tried  it  on  Sunday, 
but  we  found  that  we  could  command  a  better  attendance 
Wednesday  noon,  and  so  changed  to  that  time.  Through  its 
influence  many  Christian  men  have  been  stimulated  to  work 
for  others.  We  have  a  circulating  library  of  540  volumes. 

"  I  feel  that  the  library  is  one  of  the  most  important  ad- 
juncts in  our  work.  We  do  not  want  books  that  will  please 
and  cater  to  a  low  order  of  intelligence,  so  much  as  books  that 
will  educate,  refine  and  cultivate  a  moral  sentiment  in  a  man's 
heart.  While  I  was  secretary  of  the  Columbus  Association  a 
brakeman  asked  me  to  select  him  a  book  from  the  library.  Ho 
was  given  to  drink.  I  selected  a  book  that  would  be  enter- 
taining, and  yet  would  exert  the  right  influence  ;  and  when  he 
brought  it  back,  he  said  :  4  Stockwell,  any  man  who  reads  that 
book  will  never  touch  another  drop  of  liquor.'  I  have  often 
placed  the  same  book  in  the  hands  of  young  men  in  New  York 
City,  some  of  them  Roman  Catholics,  although  it  is  written  by 
a  Baptist  minister's  wife,  and  they  say  that  they  never  read  as 
good  a  book  before,  or  one  with  a  better  moral.  We  don't 
want  books  simply  that  at  the  end  of  the  month  we  can  make 
a  good  report.  We  could  get  any  amount  of  yellow-covered 
literature  that  would  be  read  with  avidity.  But  we  want 
books  that  will  be  like  an  electric  light  in  a  dark  corner,  and 
that  will  make  a  man  better  for  his  family  and  for  the  com- 
munity, not  books  that  will  lead  men  downward." 


THE   WORK   AMOJ^G    RAILROAD   MEK.  169 

Frank  W.  Smith,  of  Toledo,  said  : 

"  In  our  place  we  asked  for  magazines,  Harper's,  Scribner's, 
•and  All  the  Year  Round,  and  we  received  something  over 
a  thousand  copies.  They  were  placed  in  the  switch-houses 
and  round-houses,  and  were  not  to  be  returned,  but  to  be 
passed  from  one  man  to  another.  Among  the  magazines  were 
a  few  religious  peridoicals.  The  devil  said  :  *  Frank,  don't 
put  in  that  religious  magazine  ;  the  boys  will  not  read  it.*  I 
said  :  '  Get  thee  behind  me,  Satan,'  and  then  I  put  the  maga- 
zine on  top.  This  was  one  of  the  strongest  temptations  I  had 
when  I  sent  out  these  magazines,  and  I  conquered  it  only  by 
placing  the  religious  magazines  on  the  top." 

W.  J.  Orr  said  : 

"  I  visited  a  man  on  the  Great  Western  Railway  who  had 
been  sick  for  three  weeks.  He  was  a  Roman  Catholic,  and 
was  fond  of  reading.  I  took  Scribner's  Magazine  and  slipped 
inside  some  little  religious  papers.  I  said  to  him  :  '  Here  is 
Scribner^s,  and  I  have  slipped  a  couple  of  tracts  inside,  you  do 
not  object  ?  '  and  he  said  :  *  No.' 

H.  F.  Williams  said  : 

"  Railroad  men  need  an  intelligent  understanding  of  the 
work  they  have  in  hand.  The  man  who  has  a  practical  educa- 
tion will  better  fill  any  position  he  is  called  to  than  he  would 
without  it.  The  employes  of  a  road  give  character  to  the 
road  ;  and  when  we  elevate  them  to  a  higher  standard  we  are 
doing  that  much  toward  giving  to  the  stockholders  an  equiva- 
lent for  the  money  they  contribute  for  the  support  of  our 
work.  The  tendency  of  any  man's  life  who  is  a  specialist  is  to 
narrow  him  down.  Put  a  man  at  the  throttle  of  an  engine, 
let  him  stand  there  year  after  year,  doing  the  same  work,  run- 
ning over  the  same  road,  even  whistling  at  the  very  same 
points,  and  that  man's  life  is  being  contracted  by  constantly 
doing  this  one  work.  We  ought  to  offer  a  helping  hand  to 
such  men  to  break  the  treadmill  monotony  of  their  lives.  The 
word  education  means  to  draw  out  as  well  as  to  put  in  knowl- 
edge :  the  educational  part  of  our  work  should  both  put  some- 


170  SAM    HOBART. 

thing  into  a  man's  life  and  draw  something  out,  making  him 
not  only  useful  to  himself,  but  useful  to  others. 

"  I  know  there  is  a  temptation  to  make  the  Association 
room  simply  a  pleasant  place  of  resort,  but  wo  want  our  rooms 
to  be  more  than  that  :  we  want  them  to  be  educational  centres. 
The  very  pictures  on  the  walls  should  be  made  a  means  of  edu- 
cation. Instead  of  getting  railroad  advertisements  around  our 
rooms,  we  ought  to  seek,  as  many  Associations  are  wisely  seek- 
ing, to  put  the  right  sort  of  pictures  before  the  men,  and  thus 
put  good  thoughts  into  their  minds  which  may  be  drawn  out  to 
a  purpose  by  and  by.  We  cannot  maintain  classes  in  the 
railroad  work  in  the  same  way  that  we  can  in  the  city  work. 
Our  men  are  not  permanent,  but  are  liable  to  be  moved  from 
division  to  division,  and  so  we  have  to  do  the  educational 
work  in  such  a  way  that  each  lesson  will  be  complete  in  itself. 

"  One  day  a  Division  Superintendent  came  into  our  rooms, 
who  was  interested  in  a  car-coupling  arrangement.  I  suppose 
there  are  hundreds  of  different  kinds  of  car-couplings.  This 
gentleman  had  thoroughly  familiarized  himself  with  the 
different  patterns  of  couplings,  and  at  my  request  he  promised 
to  tell  us  something  about  them.  We  called  a  meeting, 
endeavoring  especially  to  reach  the  brakemen  ;  and  it  was  one 
of  the  most  interesting  meetings  we  ever  had,  both  to  the 
superintendent  and  the  men.  He  enjoyed  it  quite  as  much  as 
they  did.  I  heard  them  talking  about  car-couplings  many 
times  afterward  in  the  yard.  This  shows  that  other  lines  of 
work  may  be  taken  up  besides  class-work.  A  vocal  music 
class,  for  instance,  could  be  very  well  maintained.  An  occa- 
sional lesson  in  penmanship  may  be  given.  I  have  also 
thought  I  would  like  to  try  a  class  in  business  forms.  I  was 
connected  once  with  a  very  interesting  spelling  class,  using  a 
little  book  with  specimen  words  in  it.  We  combined  spelling 
with  penmanship  by  having  the  pupils  write  out  the  words. 
We  have  a  very  careful  and  conscientious  surgeon  connected 
with  the  road,  who  gave  us  some  very  practical  lessons,  ex- 
plaining from  charts  the  circulation  of  the  blood  and  describing 


THE    WORK    AMONG    RAILROAD    MEN.  171 

the  most  prevalent  kinds  of  injuries.  He  rolled  np  tlie  men's 
sleeves  and  tied  up  their  arms  and  showed  them  how  to  stop 
'  the  flow  of  blood.  He  gave  them  a  prescription  for  a  liniment, 
and  I  was  very  much  interested  afterward  to  find  how  many  of 
the  men  were  carrying  it  with  them.  But  let  us  never  forget 
that  we  want  to  show  the  men  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  It  is 
far  easier  to  reach  worldly  people  through  our  educational  feat- 
ures than  by  presenting  Christ,  and  we  are  tempted  to  be 
drawn  away  too  much  to  the  secular  side.  The  Lord  has 
given  us  golden  opportunities  to  get  hold  of  men  through  this 
educational  interest,  and  let  us  make  these  but  stepping-stones 
to  better  things. 

"  How  can  this  work  be  organized  ?  or,  What  can  the  secre- 
tary of  a  local  organization  do  for  railroad  work,  where  a 
branch  has  not  been  established  ?  That  is  to  say,  How  is  the 
railroad  work  to  be  commenced  in  a  new  place  ?" 

Mr.  Ingersoll. — The  first  thing  is  for  the  secretary  of  the 
city  Association  to  make*  the  acquaintance  of  Christian  rail- 
road men.  Seek  them  out.  Go  to  the  pastors  and  ask  them 
if  they  have  any  railroad  men  in  their  churches.  You  will 
always  find  one  or  more,  and  every  one  you  find  will  give  you 
the  name  of  another  one.  In  that  way  you  will  get  track  of  a 
number  of  Christian  railroad  men.  Then,  in  personal  inter- 
course with  these  men,  one  at  a  time,  get  them  into  this  work, 
and  afterward  get  them  together.  Give  them  the  literature 
pertaining  to  the  railroad  work  of  our  Associations  ;  reports  of 
conferences  held,  bulletins  of  railroad  branches,  anything  bear- 
ing upon  the  work  that  would  interest  them,  and  give  them  a 
clear  idea  of  what  is  being  done  in  this  department  and  how  it 
is  done.  Seek  to  impress  them  with  the  fact  that  the  Chris- 
tian railroad  man  has  more  influence  over  his  unsaved  comrades 
than  any  one  else  has.  Bring  the  matter  to  their  conscience  as 
a  duty  that  no  one  else  can  perform.  Show  them  what  has 
been  done  by  Christian  railroad  men  in  other  places,  and  say  : 
"  Don't  you  think  that  such  a  work  ought  to  be  done  here  ?" 
They  will  say  :  "  Yes."  Then  ask  :  "  Don't  you  think  yon 


172  SAM    HOBART. 

ought  to  do  it  V9  It  will  not  be  long  before  the  Lord  will 
help  you  to  lay  it  upon  the  hearts  of  one  or  two,  or  more. 
Then  you  have  a  nucleus  for  your  committee.  The  first  and 
simplest  work  for  them  to  do  is  to  hold  cottage  meetings  in  the 
homes  of  other  men.  Two  Christian  men  can  commence  that 
work  anywhere.  It  does  not  involve  any  expense  ;  it  needs 
nothing  but  willingness  and  love  for  souls.  I  don't  care  how 
hard  a  case  a  railroad  man  may  be,  two  Christian  comrades 
can  get  his  house  for  a  little  prayer-meeting  ;  and  no  kind  of 
effort  has  been  more  wonderfully  blessed  in  our  railroad 
branches  than  this  same  work. 


CHAPTER  XIII. 

THE    WASTED    SUBSTANCES. 

The  Story  of  Edward  H.   Uniac's  Fall  and  some  of  the  sad 
Incidents  in  Sam1  s  Work. 

SAM  lived  amid  the  surging  currents  of  evil.  Though  the 
prohibitory  law  had  been  nominally  enforced,  this  truth 
pressed  upon  his  attention  and  gave  him  alarm,  viz.,  that  men 
were  in  danger  of  going  wrong  because  they  were  wrong,  they 
loved  evil.  In  the  story  of  the  Prodigal  Son,  the  younger  boy 
is  called,  by  common  consent,  "  The  Prodigal  Son,"  because 
he  "  wasted  his  substance  in  riotous  living. "  He  deserved 
the  name.  Such  a  man  is  prodigal.  A  man  that  lives  for  self  ; 
that  consumes  his  substance  in  gratifying  inclination  or  appe- 
tite ;  who  reads,  not  for  improvement,  but  for  pleasure  ;  who 
worships  God,  even  without  a  thought  of  helping  any  one,  is  a 
prodigal. 

There  are  those  who,  for  God's  cause  and  man's  good,  give 
their  all,  and  leave  themselves  impoverished  in  purse,  though 
enriched  in  character,  who  are  called  prodigal  by  those  who 
regard  as  saved  what  they  enjoy,  and  as  lost  what  they  bestow 
upon  others.  These  make  a  mistake.  Christ  said,  "  Freely 
ye  have  received,  freely  give."  The  man  that  does  this 
wisely,  carefully,  and  discriminatingly,  is  a  benefactor,  but  no 
prodigal.  A  prodigal  is  one  who  expends  money  on  other 
1  things  without  necessity  and  foolishly.  Wasting  substance  is 
prodigality.  The  word  is  sometimes  misused.  We  speak  of 
the  man  of  genius  as  one  on  whom  nature  has  been  prodigal  in 
the  bestowment  of  her  gifts.  This  can  never  be  true.  When 
the  man  misuses  these  gifts,  then  he  is  prodigal  of  his  genius. 


174  SAM    1IOBAKT. 

Yet  it  is  not  nature  that  is  prodigal,  but  the  man.  Nature  is 
liberal  in  the  bestowment,  man  is  prodigal  in  the  expenditure. 
We  justly  speak  of  a  spendthrift  as  prodigal,  because  he  wastes 
what  he  distributes. 

There  is  a  thought  suggested  by  the  words  "  wasted  his  sub- 
stance/' which  saddens  the  mind  and  pains  the  heart.  The 
word  implies  recklessness,  thoughtlessness,  if  not  absolute  and 
intrinsic  wickedness.  A  man  cannot  become  prodigal  so  as  to 
spend  his  time  or  squander  his  talent  or  his  money  without 
necessity  and  without  a  purpose  to  do  good  except  he  first  cut 
loose  from  moral  restraint  and  determine  upon  a  career  of  per- 
sonal gratification  without  regard  to  future  responsibilities  or 
opportunities.  The  career  of  the  prodigal  is  easily  traced. 
His  pride  led  him  to  say,  "  I  know  the  world  better  than 
others.  The  advice  of  the  aged  is  very  well  for  those  who 
need  it,  but  I  need  it  not,  and  will  have  none  of  it.  Money  is 
made  to  be  used.  The  only  use  fit  for  it  is  to  procure  enjoy- 
ment. I  can  get  more  pleasure  out  of  my  money  away  from 
home  than  at  home."  Indeed,  the  restraints  of  home  arc  un- 
bearable to  the  child  so  soon  as  sin  takes  full  possession  of  the 
heart.  Is  there  a  boy  who  feels  that  a  mother's  eye  gives 
pain,  a  sister's  confiding  look  brings  reproach,  who  dislikes 
family  prayers,  who  hurries  away  so  as  to  avoid  them  ?  such  a 
one  is  becoming  a  prodigal.  He  feels  that  home  is  a  prison, 
and  the  rendezvous  of  the  wild  and  dissipated,  paradise.  Such 
are  in  danger.  The  prodigal  went  into  a  far  country  and  there 
wasted  his  substance.  There  was  no  purpose  to  do  well.  It 
is  possible  to  lose  a  fortune  and  not  be  blamed  for  it.  It  is 
impossible  to  waste  a  fortune  and  not  be  called  a  prodigal. 
The  wrecks  of  misfortune  line  the  shore  of  life's  sea.  The 
number  of  mistaken  and  disappointed  men  is  legion.  They 
are  everywhere.  Success  is  the  exception  and  not  the  rule. 
But  this  utterance  does  not  condemn  mankind.  Thousands 
of  our  most  successful  men  have  clambered  to  the  heights  of 
success  up  the  steeps  of  difficulty  and  amid  the  pitfalls  of  fail- 
ure, and  have  won  position,  distinction,  and  fortune.  Others 


THE    WASTED    SUBSTANCES.  175 

that  have  toiled  just  as  hard  and  just  as  wisely  have  been  over- 
whelmed by  misfortune  and  are  regarded  as  failures,  but  are 
not  prodigals. 

Some  of  the  men  who  have  gone  down  into  the  vortex  of 
bankruptcy  have  been  far-seeing,  prudent,  economical,  and 
wise.  But  business  is  dependent  upon  others.  There  is  a  net- 
work of  influences  which  distinguishes  financial  transactions, 
which  extend  far  and  wide  beyond  the  reach  and  control  of  the 
individual.  Ships  freighted'  with  rich  cargoes  may  go  down 
into  the  sea.  Railroad  stocks,  promising  great  dividends  in 
the  future,  may  prove  worthless  at  a  given  time.  Men  in 
whom  unlimited  confidence  has  been  reposed  suddenly  fail  and 
become  bankrupt  in  character  as  in  purse.  A  failure  under 
such  circumstances  may  be  all  that  is  left  to  honor.  A  man 
might  deceive  and  become  rich.  If  he  is  true  he  must  go  to 
the  wall,  not  necessarily  to  stay  there. 

The  business  man  learns  by  his  mistakes  quite  as  much  as 
by  his  successes.  It  is  not  dishonorable  to  fail.  It  is  dishon- 
orable to  squander  and  waste.  Whoever  tries  and  fails,  reveals 
a  purpose  which  is  commendable,  and  is  honored  ;  and  though 
such  a  one  becomes  bankrupt,  yet,  if  he  does  as  well  as  he 
can,  society  covers  him  with  the  mantle  of  charity,  and,  hoping 
for  the  best,  lends  with  pleasure  the  helping  hand. 

Not  so  does  society  feel  toward  the  man  who  squanders 
opportunity  and  patrimony,  and  by  inattention  to  business  and 
by  riotous  living  sows  his  fortune  to  the  wind,  and  in  due  time 
reaps  the  whirlwind  of  disappointment,  chagrin,  and  want. 

You  feel  that  a  prodigal  is  destitute  of  self  control,  of  a 
beneficent  and  ennobling  purpose  ;  that  he  tries  not  to  help, 
not  to  build  up,  but  to  injure,  to  tear  down,  and  demolish. 
Well  can  I  recollect  the  impression  made  upon  my  young  heart 
by  a  prodigal  son  whom  I  saw  when  a  boy.  He  was  the  heir 
to  a  fortune,  and  married  a  fortune  with  his  wife.  He  seemed 
to  feel  that  there  was  no  end  to  his  income.  He  drank  fiercely 
and  squandered  lavishly.  For  a  time  he  was  the  ringleader  of 
a  class  of  dissipated  followers.  He  was  notorious  for  having 


176  SAM    UOBAKT. 

spread  a  hundred-dollar  bill  on  a  slice  of  bread  and  butter  and 
eating  it  in  the  midst  of  a  drunken  revel.  He  died  from  the 
effects  of  his  dissipation,  and  was  buried.  The  remembrance 
of  the  manner  in  which  he  was  despised  is  still  fresh.  His 
widow,  impoverished  by  his  prodigality,  was  compelled  to 
live  in  penury,  and  her  life  was  overshadowed  by  the  ter- 
rible disgrace. 

In  his  life  there  was  not  a  single  redeeming  trait.  His  com- 
panions were  ashamed  of  him,  and  his  former  friends  left  him 
in  disgust.  Self  was  his  idol,  drink  his  passion,  and  pleasure 
his  highest  aim.  He  lived  like  a  brute  and  died  like  a  brute. 

All  have  possessions  with  which  they  may  be  prodigal. 
They  may  have  talents,  and  by  using  them  foolishly  and  for 
unwise  purposes,  waste  them.  An  individual  is  under  obliga- 
tions to  hold  all  his  powers  of  body,  mind,  and  soul  in  abey- 
ance to  the  highest  needs  of  God  and  humanity.  Whoever 
refuses  to  do  this  is  prodigal.  There  are  individuals  prodigal 
of  opportunities.  They  are  placed  in  stores,  in  shops,  and 
offices.  They  have  been  trusted.  They  prove  false  to  the 
trust  reposed  in  them.  They  neglect  to  do  as  well  as  they 
can.  They  do  what  they  are  required  to  do,  and  no  more.  If 
asked  to  do  a  favor  outside  of  their  peculiar  place,  they  regard 
it  as  an  insult.  The  result  is,  they  are  dismissed  when  there  is 
a  slack  of  employment.  Their  narrowness  and  meanness  has 
made  them  prodigal  of  their  opportunities.  They  have  wasted 
them  in  attending  to  self-interests.  They  have  themselves  to 
blame  for  their  being  out  of  employment.  They  regarded  to- 
day's privileges  as  of  no  consequence,  and  seemed  to  feel  that 
the  time  for  distinguishing  themselves  was  coming,  and  so  by 
inattention  and  by  negligence  they  extinguished  the  fires  of 
hope  and  squandered  the  blessings  intrusted  to  their  keeping. 
Whoever  acts  thus  is  prodigal  and  will  come  to  want.  On  the 
other  hand,  we  have  seen  a  man  in  a  store  who  could  and 
would  do  anything  that  needed  to  be  done.  He  was  a  man  of 
all  work.  He  could  keep  books,  collect  accounts,  lift  a  pack- 
age, run  an  errand,  stay  late  and  get  up  early.  He  was  careful 


THE    WASTED    SUBSTANCES.  17? 

to  improve  every  opportunity  and  to  use  his  talent  for  his  em- 
ployer's advantage.  Such  a  man  cannot  be  spared.  The 
chances  are  that  he  will  become  a  partner  in  the  business. 
Such  succeed.  Their  success  is  a  certainty. 

Christian  loafers  are  pious  prodigals,  and  are  great  pests. 
They  have  nothing  that  they  will  do,  but  sponge  a  living  under 
the  pretence  that  they  have  a  call  which  forbids  their  working. 
The  world  is  fuli  of  them.  They  make  a  zeal  for  God  a  cloak 
for  dishonesty  toward  men.  They  borrow  money  without  a 
thought  of  paying  it,  and  claim  that  they  are  giving  their  time 
to  the  church,  and  so  are  justified  in  cheating  you.  Such  dis- 
grace Christianity,  and  waste  their  little  substance  because  of 
their  false  views  of  duty  and  right. 

Consider  what  was  the  substance  of  the  prodigal.  His 
substance  consisted  not  alone  of  the  money  he  carried 
with  him  from  his  father's  house,  but  largely  in  what  he 
had  in  himself,  apart  from  money.  He  had  something  in 
and  of  himself.  The  health  of  body  which  gave  a  tinge  of 
beauty  to  his  cheek  and  elasticity  to  his  limb,  and  strength  to 
his  frame,  was  a  part  of  his  substance  which  he  was  under  ob- 
ligation to  himself  and  to  God  to  husband  with  care.  He 
wasted  it.  Dissipation  tells  its  sad  story  for  him  as  for  others. 
It  always  tells  its  sad  story.  Hide  it*  you  cannot.  Compare 
the  look  of  the  dissipated  youth,  who  wastes  his  nights  in 
revels,  who  invades  his  hours  of  sleep,  who  changes  night  into 
day  and  day  into  night,  whose  haggard  look  and  hollow  cough 
and  laggard  step  point  unmistakably  to  an  early  grave  ;  with 
the  bright  eye,  the  quick  step,  the  hearty  laugh,  the  joyous 
face  of  the  man  whose  evenings  are  passed  at  home,  with  pleas- 
ant books  for  companions,  to  whom  sleep  brings  rest  and  re- 
freshment, and  to  whom  the  morning  comes  with  cheery  voices 
sounding  in  the  ear,  and  pleasant  duties  engaging  the  thought 
— this  man  is  frugal  of  his  strength  and  time,  the  other  is  a 
prodigal. 

Vigor  of  mind  is  also  a  part  of  a  man's  capital.  Whatever 
clouds,  deadens,  or  impairs  the  intellect,  or  distracts  the  mind, 


178  BAM    HOB  ART. 

wastes  a  man's  substance,  and  impoverishes  him  as  surely  as 
does  the  scattering  of  money  or  destroying  of  property. 

Let  us  ask  whence  comes  this  tendency  to  prodigality  ? 
The  answer  is  at  hand.  Not  from  what  is  without  a  man  so 
much  as  from  what  is  within.  Dram  shops  abound  and  will 
abound  so  long  as  society  remains  at  heart  what  it  is.  But 
they  would  not  last  a  week  if  society  could  be  Christianized. 
But  do  not  Christians  indulge  their  appetites,  and  make  drink- 
ing respectable  ?  We  answer  a  thousand  times  no.  There 
may  not  be  moral  power  enough  in  churches  to  throw  off  the 
body  of  this  death,  and  wine-drinking  and  intemperance  may 
be  tolerated  ;  but  intemperance  is  a  sin,  and  whoever  is  intem- 
perate is  a  sinner,  and  it  is  a  shame  for  him  to  do  the  devil's 
work  in  the  garments  of  a  professed  Christianity.  Prodigality 
comes  from  forgetfulness  of  God,  from  ignoring  the  responsi- 
bilities of  life,  from  seeking  the  things  of  self,  and  from  living 
selfishly  rather  than  for  God. 

INTEMPERANCE    A    CURSE. 

Boston  and  New  England  were  startled  by  the  fall  of  Edward 
H.  Uniac.  His  story  interested  Sarn  and  enabled  him  to 
portray  the  peril  in  strong  drink  with  tremendous  power.  Sam 
declared  that  strong  drink  was  a  devil.  He  described  not  only 
the  insidious  approach  of  the  destroyer,  but  the  cunning  it 
gives  its  victim  and  the  utter  overthrow  of  truthfulness,  of 
honor,  of  uprightness. 

Edward  H.  Uniac  left  Ireland  for  America  a  boy  of  fifteen. 
He  ran  away  from  home.  The  hot  Celtic  blood  that  coursed 
his  veins  predisposed  him  to  temptation.  On  board  ship  he 
obtained  his  first  sip  of  grog.  A  sailor  gave  it  to  him,  and  he 
drank  it  from  a  dipper  with  the  men.  He  liked  it.  He 
wanted  more.  He  landed  in  New  York  with  a  purpose  to  see 
the  sights  and  enjoy  the  world.  Intemperance  was  the  gate  to 
pleasure,  and  he  entered  it.  The  broad  road  to  rum  may  be 
entered  anywhere  and  at  any  time.  That  young  man  is  the 
representative  of  a  great  class.  Sam  felt  it.  On  one  occasion. 


THE    WASTED    SUBSTANCES.  179 

when  the  wreck  and  ruin  of  this  bright  young  life  was  engaging 
public  thought,  Sam  in  the  presence  of  a  great  number  of  rail- 
road  men  sketched  the  story  of  the  young  man  and  plead  with 
them  to  shun  the  rock  on  which  his  bark  of  life  went  down. 
This  is  the  story  in  outline.  Uniac  came  to  America  fresh 
from  the  blessings  and  benedictions  of  a  Christian  home, 
endowed  with  ability  to  climb  to  the  highest  round  of  the  lad- 
der ;  he  yielded  to  temptations,  and  afterward  in  a  letter 
wrote  :  "  When  I  think  of  the  advantages  that  were  presented 
to  me  in  my  young  days  and  see  how  much  I  might  have  ac- 
complished had  I  been  true  to  my  home  education,  I  feel  keenly 
the  truth  of  Whittier's  words  when  he  says  : 

' '  Of  all  sad  words  of  tongne  or  pen 
The  saddest  are  these,  '  it  might  have  'been.'" 

"  The  light  of  the  wicked  shall  be  put  out."  "  The  truth  of  this 
text,"  said  Uniac,  "  I  know  and  can  verify.  I  have  walked 
for  years  in  darkness  without  one  single  ray  to  light  my  path- 
way of  sin  and  crime.  There  was  a  time  when  I  walked  in  the 
light,  when  the  songs  of  birds  were  hymns  of  praise  and  the 
•\yinds  sighed  the  love  and  greatness  of  God.  Mine  was  the 
peaceful  life  of  innocent  childhood.  I  had  a  mother  to  direct 
me  into  the  paths  of  piety.  I  had  a  Christian  father,  and  every 
Sunday  found  me  at  the  foot  of  the  altar,  filling  up  my  young 
soul  with  divine  truth  and  love.  But  how  sad  the  story  !  I 
turned  from  the  right  to  the  wrong,  and  entered  the  ways  and 
wickedness  of  the  world.  I  followed  its  luring  phantoms  until 
my  light  was  extinguished  and  I  groped  amid  the  dark  debris, 
plunging  ever  down  into  places  of  still  deeper  darkness." 

He  studied  law  and  won  position  at  the  bar.  Drink  under- 
mined his  strength.  He  married  and  became  the  father  of  two 
children.  Drink  broke  up  his  home.  His  wife  parted  from 
him.  He  enlisted  as  a  soldier.  He  was  promoted  over  and 
over  again  for  valor  and  reduced  to  the  ranks  because  of  drink. 
He  was  wounded.  He  was  captured.  He  was  carried  to  Rich- 
mond and  suffered  in  Libbv  and  Belle  Isle.  In  six  months 


180  SAM    HOB  ART. 

starvation  took  him  down  from  weighing  one  hundred  and 
thirty-eight  pounds  to  weighing  less  than  eighty  pounds.  Still 
the  love  of  drink  held  him.  He  was  exchanged.  He  went  to 
Camp  Distribution.  There  John  B.  Gough  saw  him  and  de- 
scribed him.  "  His  hair  was  matted,  a  dirty  rag  was  bound 
about  his  head,  his  eye  was  bloodshot,  his  face  bloated  and  his 
whole  appearance  spoke  of  utter  neglect. "  Being  interested 
in  his  apparent  abandonment,  Gough  inquired  of  an  officer  who 
he  was.  His  reply  was  :  "  He  is  the  worst  man  in  the  com- 
pany and  the  most  brilliant,  but  is  so  given  to  intemperance 
that  nothing  but  a  miracle  can  save  him."  Uniac  heard 
Gough  and  came  to  himself.  On  the  way  to  the  meeting  he 
overheard  a  soldier  say,  "There  goes  a  subject  for  Gough 's 
lecture.77  These  words  cut  him  to  the  quick,  and  he  thought 
to  himself,  "Is  it  possible  ?  Have  I  sunk  so  low  in  the  scale 
of  humanity  as  to  be  pointed  at  by  my  companions  in  crime  ? 
By  God's  help  I  will  try  to  be  a  man  once  more.'7 

His  description  of  the  scene  is  worthy  of  being  ^introduced. 
He  said,  "  Gough  was  in  the  midst  of  one  of  his  most  power- 
ful appeals.  When  pointing  his  finger  almost  directly  at  me, 
he  said,  '  You  can  be  a  man  ;  you  have  an  immortal  spirit 
beating  in  your  bosom  which  must  live  forever.  Will  you  try  ? 
God  will  help  you.  Good  angels  will  help  you,  the  prayers  of 
God's  people  will  help  you,  and  you  will  be  successful  in  the 
struggle.7  7  He  signed  the  pledge.  Mrs.  Gough  offered  him 
her  hand,  saying,  "God  help  you  to  keep  it.77  He  replied, 
"  Thank  you,  madam,  I  will  remember  that.77 

He  won  a  victory.  He  enlisted  as  a  worker  in  the  Christian 
commission.  He  came  to  Boston,  and  in  the  lecture  field  be- 
came the  rival  of  Gough.  He  went  from  town  to  town  and 
State  to  State.  He  never  overcame  his  appetite,  and  here  it 
was  that  Sam  Hobart  became  interested  in  him.  He  often  saw 
him  on  the  train.  He  often  listened  to  him.  He  recalled  with 
horror  the  fact  that  when  weak  and  faint  he  went  into  a  drug 
store  in  Boston,  and  in  accordance  with  the  recommendation  of 
a  friend  asked  for  quinine  bitters.  The  clerk  took  down  a 


THE    WASTED    SUBSTANCES.  181 

bottle,  and  Uniac  taking  it  in  his  hand  said,  "  Do  you  know 
me,  sir." 

The  man  said,  "  Yes  ;  this  is  Mr.  Uniac,  the  temperance 
orator. ' ' 

"  Well,  then,  you  know,"  says  Uniac,  "  that  I  can  take 
nothing  that  has  alcohol  in  it  ;  have  these  bitters  anything  of 
the  kind  in  them  ?" 

The  apothecary  answered,  "  Not  enough  to  hurt  anybody,  if 
there  is  any.  There  may  have  been  a  few  drops  when  they 
were  first  made,  put  in  to  keep  them  ;  but,  still,  knowing  you, 
I  can  cordially  recommend  them  to  you." 

Uniac  bought  them,  tasted  of  them,  and  went  to  Connecti- 
cut. He  spoke  and  fainted.  Brandy  was  given  to  him,  which 
caused  every  nerve  of  his  stomach  to  open  its  mouth  and  cry 
for  drink.  He  came  the  next  morning  back  to  Providence, 
went  into  a  saloon,  drank  nearly  a  tumbler  full  of  raw  whiskey, 
and  taking  a  bottle  with  him  came  to  Boston  drunk.  Sam 
wept  over  hjs  fall.  So  did  thousands.  The  story  of  his  relapse 
ran  like  wildfire.  Uniac  went  from  bad  to  worse.  He  at 
times  gained  a  mastery  for  a  day,  and  then  went  down  for  a 
week.  He  came  to  the  Temple  one  Sabbath  morning.  The 
pastor  saw  him,  and  calling  a  deacon  said  :  "  In  yonder  corner 
is  Uniac  ;  go  to  him  and  stay  with  him  until  the  close  of  the 
meeting,  and  bring  him  to  my  room." 

It  was  done.  Then  and  there  his  weakness  was  revealed. 
He  would  not  take  Christ  for  strength.  The  devil  held  him 
and  made  him  reject  the  offered  help  of  God.  How  we  prayed 
for  him.  How  Sam  described  the  weakness  of  the  inebriate  as 
he  related  this  story  of  his  persisting  in  obtaining  strong  drink. 
It  was  on  an  April  morning  in  1869  that  a  friend  started  with 
him  to  go  to  John  B.  Gough's  near  Worcester.  When  they 
arrived  at  South  Framingham  Uniac  wanted  drink,  and  was  so 
determined  to  have  it  that  force  was  required  to  resist  him. 
At  Worcester  he  was  threatened  with  delirium  tremens.  In 
accordance  with  medical  advice  wine  was  given  him.  He  then 
escaped  and  drank  freely.  He  went  to  Mr.  Gough's,  ate  din- 


182  SAM   HOBART. 

ner,  came  back,  went  to  the  theatre,  and  then  escaped  his 
friend  and  was  found  in  the  bar-room  just  raising  the  liquor  to 
his  lips.  "  Stop  !"  cried  the  friend.  This  is  the  description 
of  the  scene  :  "  I  spoke  sharply  and  told  him  that  I  had  lost 
all  confidence  in  him.  He  appeared  to  feel  very  badly,  and 
wept  like  a  child  and  said,  *  If  you  cannot  trust  me,  there 
is  no  use  of  ray  trying  to  reclaim  my  lost  position/  I  talked 
plainly,  telling  him,  if  he  did  not  try  I  should,  and  that  he 
could  not  have  any  more  drink.  He  gave  me  one  of  his  defiant 
laughs,  and  said  he  would  have  it  if  he  lived,  and  that  I  did 
not  know  the  cunning  of  the  inebriate.  I  told  him  that  if  that 
was  the  case  he  would  not  live,  for  he  should  go  to  Boston 
dead  or  alive  without  liquor.  For  two  mi  antes  he  looked  me 
in  the  eye,  as  only  a  drunken  man  can.  At  length,  with  his 
eyes  still  fixed  on  me,  he  said,  'Do  you  mean  that?"*  I  an- 
swered firmly,  *  I  do.1  He  said,  in  a  subdued  tone,  '  I  am  ready 
to  go.7  '  They  came  to  Boston.  In  the  morning  he  got  up 
early  and  said  he  was  going  to  the  Maine  Depot  to  meet  a 
friend.  The  next  heard  of  him  he  was  intoxicated.  They 
found  him.  They  put  him  on  his  feet.  Back  to  drink  he 
went.  Matters  went  on  in  this  way  until  one  morning  a  friend 
received  a  note  saying,  "  A  man  in  the  police  station  desires  to 
see  you."  The  friend  hastened  thither.  The  prisoners  were 
in  the  dock.  He  looked  in  and  among  the  array  stood  Uniac  ; 
his  face  bloated,  his  eyes  bloodshot,  hair  dishevelled,  clothes 
torn  and  dirty,  and  a  look  of  despair  in  his  eyes.  He  was 
taken  out,  carried  to  a  private  asylum  ;  the  light  of  hope  once 
more  flickered  in  the  socket.  It  was  but  for  a  moment.  He 
used  opium.  He  went  and  drank,  came  back  and  slept  the 
sleep  that  wakens  only  upon  the  dread  realities  of  eternity. 

This  long  story  was  known  to  the  engineer.  It  nerved  him. 
It  made  him  more  desperate  with  weak  men.  It  fired  his  im- 
agination. It  caused  him  to  pray  against  rum — at  the  Bethel 
temperance  meetings,  in  the  Temple,  at  Worcester,  and  every- 
where. If  a  man  belted  with  friends  as  was  Uniac  could  be 
carried  down,  none  were  safe  out  of  the  arms  of  Jesus.  This 


THE   WASTED    SUBSTAXCES.  183 

Sam  saw.  This  he  said,  clinching  his  exhortation  with  the 
words,  "  He  that  trusteth  his  own  heart  is  a  fool.  Let  him 
that  thinketh  he  standeth  take  heed  lest  he  fall." 

On  another  occasion  he  came  into  the  meeting  and  with 
thrilling  effect  related  this  incident.  A  young  man  fresh  from 
the  country  was  gazing  one  evening  listlessly  at  the  windows  of 
a  pleasantly  lighted  room  when  he  felt  a  gentle  tap  on  the 
shoulder.  He  turned.  A  friend  said,  "  Come.  I  am  going 
in  for  a  few  moments  ;  will  you  not  come  ?"  He  hesitated  ; 
his  mother  rose  before  him  as  on  her  dying  bed  he  promised 
her  that  he  would  never  sit  at  a  gaming-table,  nor  look  upon 
the  wine-cup.  Notwithstanding  this  promise  he  went  in,  again 
and  again  ;  he  was  in  a  good  position.  He  has  lost  it.  I 
have  just  come  from  him.  He  has  the*  delirium  tremens.  I 
have  seen  him  pointing  his  attenuated  finger  toward  the  door 
and  exclaiming,  4<  There  they  are.  Don't  you  see  them  ?  Oh, 
keep  them  off.  There  they  come.  They  are  on  me.  They 
have  got  me."  He  shrieks  and  promises,  "Yes/  YES  !  I 
will  play  one  more  game  with  you,  for  you  have  my  soul.  I 
know  you  have. "  Contrast  that  man  with  our  honored  deacon, 
George  W.  Chipman,  who  came  as  a  young  man  to  the  city 
from  Marlboro.  The  first  night  he  went  out,  his  companions 
led  him  to  the  threshold  of  a  theatre.  He  stopped.  He 
stood.  He  saw  his  mother's  beautiful  face  and,  turning,  said, 
"  I  promised  her  not  to  go  there,  and  I  will  not."  He  was 
asked  to  drink.  His  vow  kept  him  as  he  strode  on  to  useful- 
ness and  to  eminence.  Temptation  is  a  fact.  It  meets  us 
everywhere.  It  sounds  like  the  great  sea  to  some.  It  is  like 
the  great  sea  to  millions.  Every  man  may  be  broken  by  it, 
unless  God  keep  him.  Every  enterprise  may  be  wrecked  by  it, 
unless  God  delivers  it.  Only  those  who  take  Jesus  for  strength 
get  the  victory.  There  is  no  temptation  taken  you  but  is  com- 
mon to  man,  but  God  is  faithful,  who  will  not  suffer  you  to  be 
tempted  above  that  ye  are  able  to  bear,  but  will  with  the  temp- 
tation make  a  way  to  escape  that  ye  may  be  able  to  bear  it. 
Faith  in  God  would  have  saved  Uniac.  Well  has  it  been  said  :  " 


184  SAM    HOBAKT. 

"  I  would  not  give  much  for  that  virtue  which  has  never  been 
tried.  Give  me  rather  the  virtue  whose  battered  and  bruised 
shield  has  arrayed  itself  against  the  hosts  of  evil.  Give  me  the 
man  who  has  been  baptized  in  the  lire  of  temptation  and  come 
out  like  refined  gold.  ' 7 


CHAPTER  XIV. 

TEMPERANCE  AN  ADDED  FORCE. 

Henry    Wilson — The    Peril    in    Wild    Oats — Lessons  Learned 
at  the  Farm  School. 

SAM  delighted  to  do  honor  to  those  who  deserved  honor. 
Foremost  among  these  in  his  estimation  stood  Henry  Wilson, 
an  illustration,  known  and  read  of  all  men,  of  the  fact  that  tem- 
perance was  an  added  force. 

Henry  Wilson  began  at  the  bottom.  His  parents  knew  pov- 
erty because  of  the  curse  of  rum.  He  once  said  in  Tremont 
Temple,  "  From  my  cradle  to  this  hour  I  have  seen,  felt,  and 
realized  the  curse  of  intemperance.  When  my  eyes  first  saw 
the  light,  when  I  came  to  recognize  anything,  I  saw  and  felt 
some  of  the  evils  of  intemperance  ;  and  all  my  life  long  to  this 
hour  and  now,  my  heart  has  been  burdened  with  anxieties  for 
those  of  my  kith  and  kin  that  I  loved  dearly. ' ' 

Sam  dwelt  sadly  on  this  great  sorrow  in  the  life  of  the  son, 
Henry  Hamilton  Wilson,  which  illustrates  the  danger  in  strong 
drink.  Mr.  Wilson's  father  loved  liquor.  He  did  not.  He 
had  no  relish  for  it.  But  his  boy  suffered  from  his  grand- 
father 9B  weakness  and,  giving  way  to  the  use  of  intoxicants, 
went  to  an  untimely  grave. 

This  fact  stares  all  workers  in  the  face.  In  Brooklyn,  N.  Y., 
was  a  man  perfectly  temperate.  His  three  boys  were  hopeless 
drunkards,  as  was  their  grandfather  before  them.  Mr.  Beecher 
described  the  condition  of  them,  saying  sometimes  for  days  the 
peril  threatened  them.  They  bemoaned  it.  They  fought 
against  it.  They  yielded  to  it.  They  died  drunkards  because 
of  their  grandfather's  sin.  Uniac  over  and  over  again  would 


18G  bAM    HOBAKT. 

go  to  a  friend  and  cry  for  help.  He  would  not  dare  go  alone. 
The  approach  of  the  devil  was  like  an  armed  guard.  It  was 
impossible  to  obtain  deliverance  unaided. 

Temperance  is  an  added  force.  Hence  the  apostle  says  : 
"  Add  to  your  faith  virtue,  to  virtue  knowledge,  and  to  knowl- 
edge temperance. " 

"  Temperance,"  Sam  would  say,  "  is  not  religion.  It  can- 
not take  the  place  of  religion.  It  is  one  feature  of  religion. 
It  is  a  strand  in  the  rope,  a  block  in  the  superstructure,  a 
branch  of  the  tree.  Faith  is  the  foundation  of  Christianity. 
Love  is  the  dome  of  the  grand  superstructure,  through  which 
the  light  of  God  irradiates  the  building  from  which  comes  the 
glory  and  the  mantling  of  beauty. " 

Temperance  is  essential  to  manliness.  Nothing  is  more 
common  than  to  see  the  young  refuse  to  heed  the  injunction  : 
Add  temperance  to  other  virtues.  Sam  could  not  abide  the 
tendency  in  young  boys  to  use  tobacco.  He  protested  against 
the  keeping  of  cigar-stores  open  on  the  Sabbath,  where  thousands 
of  children  take  the  pennies  designed  for  the  treasury  of  the 
Lord  and  drop  them  into  the  tobacconist's  hands  for  that  which 
threatens  to  stunt  the  growth  and  destroy  the  promise  of  those 
who  otherwise  would  be  the  hope  of  the  church  and  the  world. 
"  I  know  what  you  think, "  said  Sam.  "  You  declare  we  want 
to  know  the  world.  We  want  to  have  a  good  time.  We  have 
not  sounded  the  depths  of  pleasure.  W^e  are  not  ready  to  give 
up  pleasure  for  piety  and  the  world  for  Christ.  How  Christ 
mourns  over  the  fact  that  so  many  parents  side  with  this  ten- 
dency to  sin,  saying,  'Boys  will  be  boys,'  and  declaring  that 
children  must  not  be  brought  up  in  the  nurture  and  admonition 
of  the  Lord,  and  must  not  be  held  by  too  tight  a  rein  while 
young,  and  that  they  will  get  over  their  folly  when  they  have 
sowed  their  wild  oats.  Alas,  wild  oats  grow.  They  bring 
forth  harvests,  as  the  weak  and  dissipated  wrecks  of  humanity 
about  us  on  every  side  declare."  The  poor  were  not,  in  Sam's 
estimation,  in  greater  danger  than  the  rich.  How  he  delighted 
to  describe  the  life  of  Senator  Wilson.  Beginning  the  poorest 


TEMPERANCE    AJST    ADDED    FOKCE.  187 

of  the  poor.  Early  learning  to  read.  Receiving  as  his  first 
text-book  and  as  the  guide  of  'his  youth  a  New  Testament,  he 
started  out  under  the  benediction  of  the  heavenly  hand.  Hav- 
ing reached  his  majority  he  learned  the  shoemaker's  trade,  and 
became  .a  good  manufacturer.  While  others  were  idling  away 
their  time,  he  was  reading  and  working.  At  twenty-one  he  was 
conversant  with  American  history  and  with  wide  realms  of 
literature.  As  soon  as  he  earned  money  he  went  to  school. 
He  worked  for  his  board  that  he  might  discipline  his  mind. 
He  grew  mentally  as  he  grew  physically.  He  joined  a  debating 
society  and  learned  to  think  on  his  feet.  He  became  a  power 
in  his  neighborhood,  in  the  town,  in  the  State  and  in  the  nation, 
because  of  his  growth  intellectually  and  morally. 

He  was  temperate.  After  he  had  been  a  member  of  the 
Legislature  and  while  the  excitement  of  anti-slavery  agitation 
swept  the  land,  he  went  to  Washington  to  carry  a  petition 
against  the  admission  of  Texas  as  a  State  into  the  Union.  He 
was  asked  to  dine  with  John  Quincy  Adams.  At  the  table, 
wine  was  urged  upon  the  rising  politician.  Henry  Wilson 
refused  it,  and,  imitating  Daniel  at  the  court  of  Babylon,  won 
favor  with  God  and  man.  Wilson  spoke  of  this  as  one  of  the 
strongest  temptations  of  his  life.  Mr.  Adams  afterward 
heartily  commended  him  for  his  consistency.  When  elected 
to  the  United  States  Senate  he  gave  his  friends  a  dinner  at 
Young's  Hotel.  On  that  occasion  some  jeeringly  asked, 
"  Where  are  the  wine-glasses  ?"  and  spoke  of  the  occasion  as 
a  dry  affair.  Henry  Wilson  rose  and  with  a  great  deal  of  feel- 
ing said  :  "  Gentlemen,  you  know  my  love  for  you,  my  qbliga- 
tions  to  you.  Great  as  they  arc,  they  are  not  great  enough  to 
make  me  forget  4  the  rock  whence  I  was  hewn  and  the  pit  from 
which  I  was  dug. '  Some  of  you  know  how  the  curse  of  intem- 
perance overshadowed  my  youth.  That  I  might  escape  I  fled 
my  early  surroundings  and  changed  my  name.  For  what  I  am, 
under  God,  I  am  indebted  to  my  temperance  vow  and  my  adhe- 
rence to  the  same.  Call  for  what  you  want  to  eat  and,  if  this 
hostelry  can  provide  it,  it  shall  be  forthcoming.  But  wines  and 


188  SAM    HOBAUT. 

liquors  cannot  come  on  to  this  table  with  my  consent,  because 
I  will  not  spread  in  the  path  of  another  the  snare  from  which  I 
have  escaped/' 

All  applauded  him,  and  Senator  Wilson  became  the  pride  of 
the  workingmen  and  the  stalwart  leader  in  the  cause  of  temper- 
ance in  Washington  as  in  Boston,  and  for  him  Sam  Hobart  had 
unbounded  admiration.  Senator  Wilson  had  a  warm  place  in 
his  heart  for  the  brave  and  faithful  engineer.  In  some  things 
they  were  alike.  They  loved  God  and  delighted  to  work  for 
men.  The  necessity  of  adding  temperance  to  other  Christian 
and  manly  virtues  was  ever  a  present  fact  with  this  worker  for 
God.  He  knew  that  it  was  fashionable  to  be  intemperate. 
Intemperance  is  not  regarded  as  a  sin,  but  rather  as  a  sign  of  a 
generous  nature.  Temperance  is  looked  upon  as  an  evidence 
of  narrowness,  of  weakness  and  puerility,  instead  of  being 
proof  of  wisdom,  of  strength,  of  manliness.  Drinking  customs 
have  invaded  society.  They  threaten  the  thrift  and  prosperity 
of  the  men  of  toil.  Many  a  man  drinks  up  chairs,  sofas,  mir- 
rors, wife's  clothes,  children's  shoes,  and  goes  on  in  poverty, 
whereas  he  might  with  temperance  enjoy  it  all. 

This  story  illustrated  the  truth  in  one  of  Sam's  talks  :  "  An 
engineer,  through  rum -drinking,  had  lost  his  place.  He  was 
turned  away.  Railroad  men  cut  him  on  every  side.  One  day 
he  was  leaning  on  the  counter  and  was  about  to  drink  as  Sam 
entered  the  saloon  in  search  of  him.  The  wife  of  the  saloon- 
keeper brought  in  her  beautiful  child  and  stood  her  upon  the 
counter,  saying,  l  Papa,  see  baby's  shoes.'  Just  then  the  little 
barefooted  child  of  the  engineer  came  in  and  said,  '  Papa, 
come  home.7  Sam,  looking  at  the  little  red  feet,  said  :  *  Bob, 
your  girl  needs  shoes  quite  as  much  as  the  saloon-keeper  needs 
your  money.'  The  man  looked  at  his  child.  He  broke  down 
in  grief  and  said  :  'Sam,  I  am  done.'  He  took  the  little  child 
in  his  arms,  put  her  cold  feet  in  his  bosom,  and  carried  her 
home  ;  signed  the  pledge  and  that  night  Sam  gathered  a  little 
collection  to  give  them  a  start. "  "  Temperance,"  said  Sam, 
on  another  occasion,  "  is  essential  to  manly  development.  In- 


TEMPERANCE    AIT    ADDED    FORCE.  180 

temperance  weakens  the  system,  destroys  the  intellect,  and 
ruins  the  sonl.  Contrast  the  offspring  of  the  temperate  and 
intemperate  parents.'1  Sam  had  visited  the  Reform  School  at 
West  Borough,  and  his  attention  was  called  to  the  diminutive 
forms  of  the  children  of  intemperate  parents.  The  devil 
knows  it ;  and  as  this  Republic  has  to  do  with  the  world's  prog- 
ress Sam  saw  in  the  use  of  ardent  spirits  the  degeneracy  and 
the  destruction  of  thousands  who  otherwise  might  aid  in  pro- 
moting its  interests.  Temperance  gives  skill  to 'the  hands, 
clearness  to  the  perception,  value  to  the  judgment,  and  power 
to  the  will.  Intemperance  destroys  it  all,  and  casts  down  its 
votary  into  the  vortex  of  ruin.  Parents  should  think  of  this. 
"  Recently,  in  a  neighbor's  house  I  saw,"  said  Sam,  "  a  boy 
reeling  around  the  room. 

4 '  l  What  are  you  doing  ?  '  shouted  the  father  in  anger. 

is  '  Doing  ?  '  said  the  lad,  t  I  am  walking  as  father  walked 
last  night/  " 

It  was  as  good  as  a  picture  to  see  the  tear  in  Sam's  eye  as  he 
told  the  story  and  asked  prayers  that  the  father  might  feel  the 
terrible  rebuke  which  came  from  the  lips  of  his  child.  Such 
facts  as  these  illustrated  the  truth  that  temperance  promotes 
clearness  and  vigor  of  intellect.  Daniel  Webster  achieved  his 
noble  stature  and  his  magnificent  frame  previous  to  his  surren- 
der to  the  use  of  intoxicants.  Havelock  and  his  regiment 
proved  that  the  temperate  are  more  healthy,  more  ready  for 
duty,  and  more  enduring  than  the  intemperate.  In  Russia 
when  soldiers  are  sent  north,  an  officer  smells  the  breath  of 
every  man  and  keeps  home  every  one  who  drinks  intoxicants. 

Thousands  perished  in  our  army  because  of  drink.  Defeat 
after  defeat  came  to  our  arms  because  of  the  indulgence  on  the 
part  of  the  officers  in  strong  drink.  General  Butler  found  that 
drunkenness  was  sapping  the  strength  of  his  army.  He  found 
that  soldiers  concealed  liquor  in  gun  barrels,  and  in  one  way  or 
another  thousands  wer~  drinking.  He  issued  an  address.  He 
plead  with  officers  and  men  to  abandon  the  use  of  liquor  for 
the  sake  of  the  flag  as  well  as  for  thoir  own  safety,  and  led  the 


190  SAM    HOBAIIT. 

way  in  total  abstinence.  The  tide  of  drunkenness  threatened 
everything.  When  checked,  victories  came.  It  is  probahle 
that  Commodore  Foote  did  no  \vork  as  valuable  on  his  gunboat 
at  Fort  Donelson  as  when  on  his  way  he  held  up  before  U.  S. 
Grant  the  importance  of  his  abstaining  from  every  form  of 
intoxicating  beverages. 

It  is  admitted  that  indulgence  in  drinking  may  unduly  excite 
the  intellect  for  the  moment  and  aid  it  in  bearing  an  undue 
strain  for  a  time  ;  but  no  man  that  uses  tobacco  or  intoxicants 
understands  the  pleasure  derived  from  the  play  of  the  united 
forces  of  mind  and  body  and  soul  as  does  the  temperate  man 
•whose  imagination  kindles  under  the  inspirations  of  truth  and 
under  the  direction  of  the  Spirit  of  God.  Temperance  enables 
the  individual  to  use  the  powers  committed  to  his  keeping.  A 
man  falls  into  the  gutter  overcome  by  liquor.  Liquor  over- 
comes. It  does  not  help.  It  disgraces  women,  no  matter  how 
wealthy  or  how  refined,  as  it  disgraces  the  ignorant  sot.  This 
fact  Sam  illustrated  by  an  incident  which  had  just  come  to  his 
notice.  A  friend,  knowing  his  skill  in  managing  the  intemper- 
ate, invited  him  to  an  elegant  home.  He  entered  a  parlor  more 
beautiful  than  anything  he  had  before  seen.  Around  him  was 
all  that  wealth,  guided  by  an  elegant  taste,  could  desire. 
Large  and  comfortable  chairs,  sofas  of  the  most  costly  descrip- 
tion, and  book-cases  filled  with  rare  books  surprised  and  de- 
lighted him..  On  the  walls  were  the  most  costly  of  paintings 
purchased  in  Europe,  where  the  appetite  for  strong  drink  was 
acquired,  not  by  the  man,  but  by  the  woman.  To  her  he  was 
introduced.  She  admitted  her  degradation  and  contended  that 
she  was  utterly  helpless.  Sam  took  her  at  once  to  Christ. 
u  Take  my  Lord,  madam,  for  temperance  as  I  took  him  to 
overcome  profanity,  and  you  will  be  all  right.  You  know 
Paul  said,  '  Every  one  who  striveth  for  the  mastery  is  temper- 
ate.' You  are  to  make  a  struggle  to  be  temperate. " 

"  Yes  ;  that  is  the  difficulty.  I  cannot  live  without  stim- 
ulus/' 

"  Die,  then,''  said  Sam. 


TEMPERANCE   AX   ADDED   FORCE.  191 

"  And  be  damned  and  go  to  hell  ?"  said  the  lady. 

"  No,"  said  Sara,  with  the  pleasantest  of  smiles,  "  die  and 
go  to  heaven,  and  get  out  of  hell." 

"  Wouldn't  I  be  damned  if  I  should  die  as  I  am  ?" 

"  Yes,  but  you  need  not  die  as  you  are.  Whosoever  con- 
fesses Christ  as  a  Saviour  shall  be  confessed  by  Christ  before 
his  Father  and  his  holy  angels.  Confess  Christ  and  then  take 
him  for  strength,  and  you  won't  be  sick  and  you  won't  be 
harmed.  But  if  you  should3  be  sick  and  die  Jesus  will  take 
you  to  himself.  You  see  you  are  his  after  you  give  yourself 
to  him,  and  he  is  responsible  for  your  salvation  and  preserva- 
tion." 

"  It  is  a  new  view,  Mr.  Hobart.  I  see  my  way  out  through 
God's  help." 

Together  they  prayed,  and  she  began  the  fight  in  the  name  of 
God,  and  won  the  victory,  and  the  home  was  saved. 

Ever  after,  that  woman  welcomed  Sam,  not  as  a  railroad 
engineer,  but  as  her  deliverer  and  benefactor  in  the  Lord. 

In  Sam's  estimation  temperance  was  essential  to  piety.  He 
had  no  use  for  an  intemperate  minister  or  for  a  physician  that 
for  any  reason  would  prescribe  the  use  of  stimulants.  He  be- 
lieved more  were  ruined  than  helped  by  it. 

Add  temperance  to  the  attainments  of  childhood  because  of 
the  influence  a  child  can  wield.  Sam  met  a  little  girl  carrying 
a  pail  of  beer  home.  He  spoke  to  her  and  said,  "  I  am  sorry 
to  see  you  in  such  business." 

"  I  am  sorry  to  be  in  it,  Mr.  Hobart.  Come  with  me  and 
persuade  my  parents  to  give  up  drink." 

Sam  accepted  the  invitation.  He  found  father  and  mother 
thirsting  for  drink  and  eagerly  waiting  for  their  child's  return. 
Hearing  the  footfall  of  a  man  they  feared  punishment  for  send- 
ing their  child  for  drink.  In  went  the  child,  after  her  came 
Sam,  with  his  pleasant,  cheery  smile,  "  We  have  brought  your 
beer." 

"  Have  some  with  us,  Mr.  Hobart." 

"  Can't  afford  it" 


192  8AM    IIOBART. 

"  Why,  you  are  better  off  than  we  are,  and  yet  we  afford  it ; 
don't  we,  mother  ?" 

"  We  use  it." 

"  Yes,  and  pay  for  it." 

"  Yes,  and  go  without  much  else.  Look  at  me,"  said  Sam. 
"  I  have  good  clothes.  You  have  not.  If  I  drank  my  clothes 
up  I  wouldn't  have  them,  would  I  ?" 

"Certainly  not." 

"  I  have  good  furniture  ;  you  have  not.  I  would  not  have 
it  if  I  drank  it  up.  I  have  a  good  business.  You  have  not. 
I  would  not  have  it  if  drink  made  me  untrustworthy.  I  have 
the  respect  of  children.  You  have  not,  because  you  drink. 
Friends,  give  it  up  ;  save  what  you  waste  in  drink,  and  in  time 
you  will  have  a  good  home,  a  good  position,  and  a  pleas- 
ant life."  Turning  to  the  little  girl  he  said  :  "  Now  let  me 
empty  out  the  beer.  I  will  give  you  what  it  cost ;  and  with  that 
start  and  go  on  to  victory." 

They  refused,  and  drank  the  beer,  and  Sam  came  and  told 
the  story  and  asked  us  to  pray  that  the  seed  sown  might  bring 
forth  fruit.  Weeks  went  on.  The  little  girl  came  to  our 
school.  She  learned  the  song,  "  Put  away  the  bowl,"  and  one 
day  sang  it  with  wondrous  power.  The  arrow  entered  the 
mother's  soul.  She  gave  up  drink.  The  father  came  home. 
He  was  sober.  He  heard  the  child  sing,  "  Jesus,  lover  of  my 
soul."  It  awakened  memories  in  his  heart.  He  called  his 
child  to  him.  She  sang  for  her  father.  She  asked  them  to 
come  to  church.  They  came.  Sam  met  them.  All  sat  to- 
gether in  the  house  of  God.  They  were  pricked  to  the  heart. 
They  turned  to  Christ.  They  were  redeemed,  and  Sam  rejoiced 
because  of  what  a  child  can  do  when  temperance  was  an  added 
force.  Sam  believed  and  therefore  spoke.  He  believed  in 
standing  together  with  Christ.  Hence  he  worked  with  God  as 
lie  worked  with  men.  Sam  believed  in  the  pledge.  He  always 
had  one  in  his  pocket  and  asked  men  to  sign  it,  promising  to 
pray  for  all  on  the  list.  He  said  we  must  stick  together,  and 
.told  how  in  climbing  the  Alpine  glaciers  the  guide  fastens  to 


TEMPERANCE    AN    ADDED    FORCE.  193 

himself  the  rope  and  fastens  it  to  every  other  man,  believing 
that  there  will  be  strength  in  mutual  support.  If  one  slips,  all 
.the  rest  hold  him  up.  What  that  rope  is  to  the  men  going 
down,  that  a  pledge  and  agreeing  to  stand  for  each  other  is  to 
a  temperance  organization.  Gough  was  saved  in  this  way.  It 
was  because  when  he  signed  the  pledge  the  man  said,  "Come 
and  sign  and  be  one  of  us,"  that  he  went  home  saying,  "/  am 
one  of  them."  All  that  night  he  struggled.  The  next  morn- 
ing,  very  weak,  he  went  to  his  work,  saying  to  the  man  in  the 
office, 

"  I  have  signed  the  pledge. " 

The  man  replied,  in  a  brutal  way,  "  I  have  heard  so." 

"  I  intend  to  keep  it." 

"  So  they  all  say,"  replied  the  brute. 

Gough  was  alone.  Wife  dead,  child  dead  ;  and  deader  than 
all  was  the  man  in  the  office  from  whom  he  expected  help. 
He  went  to  his  task  faint-hearted.  He  began  to  work.  He 
held  in  his  hand  the  piece  of  iron  to  turn  the  screw  in  the 
clamp  that  held  the  book,  for  he  was  a  bookbinder  by  trade. 
The  iron  changed  into  a  snake.  On  one  end  was  a  tail  which 
began  to  twist  and  turn.  On  the  other' end  came  a  serpent's 
head  with  open  mouth.  In  his  hand  the  writhing  thing  moved 
and  struggled.  It  nearly  tore  out  the  palm.  He  saw  his  peril. 
He  cried  for  help.  Just  then,  as  he  looked  into  the  vortex  of 
delirium  tremens,  he  heard  a  step  and  a  man  cried  out  : 

"  Good-morning,  Mr.  Gough.  Glad  to  see  you.  Came 
round  to  see  you.  You  know  you  are  one  of  us,  and  I  came 
to  see  you  and  to  say  that  my  name  is  Jesse  W.  Goodrich,  and 
that  I  will  always  be  glad  to  help  you.  How  are  you  ?" 

Gough  looked  up.  The  iron  was  iron.  The  words  had 
lifted  the  falling  man  to  his  feet.  He  stood  upon  the  rock  of 
temperance,  and  was  helped  to  save  thousands  because  on  that 
eventful  morning  Goodrich  stood  by  Gough.  "  There  is," 
said  Sam,  <4  in  one  of  our  towns  a  movement  that  promises  to 
spread.  They  work  and  pray  for  the  intemperate.  The  result 
is  the  saloons  are  being  closed  up,  and  notwithstanding  the  hard 


194  8AM    HOBART. 

times  there  is  but  little  suffering  among  the  working  people. 
A  reading-room  well  supplied  with  books  and  papers  and  made 
attractive  in  many  ways  has  been  opened  day  and  evening,  and 
is  preferred  to  the  saloon.  Families  have  been  reunited,  men 
have  become  able  to  support  those  dependent  upon  them, 
public  charity  has  been  less  needed.  The  sots  of  the  gutter 
appear  in  good  clothes  once  more,  and  the  houses  of  God  are 
filled  with  devout  worshippers. 

"  God  will  help  us  all,"  said  Sam,  "  if  we  will  all  help  God. 
The  power  to  do  well  is  within  our  reach. "  This  illustration 
pleased  him,  and  to  it  he  often  referred.  A  castaway  ship  was 
floating  on  an  apparently  shoreless  sea.  The  cry  was  for 
"  Water,  water  !"  A  ship  came  in  sight.  It  approached 
them.  They  signalled  for  help. 

"  What  do  you  want  ?"  asked  the  captain. 

"  WTater,"  was  the  reply. 

"  Dip  and  drink.  You  are  sailing  on  the  Amazon,  and  have 
been  there  for  days. ' ' 

So  with  us  all.  God  is  about  us.  Cry  unto  Christ,  and 
temperance  can  become  an  added  force. 


CHAPTER  XV. 

A    PROBLEM    HARD    TO    SOLVE. 

"Is  intemperance  a  disease  or  a  crime?"  asked  Sam  one  day. 

"  A  mighty  problem,  Sam,"  was  the  reply. 

"  Ah,  but  I  want  to  know,"  said  Sam.  "  That  it  is  a  sin 
there  can  be  no  question,  for  Paul  says,  '  Know  ye  not  .  .  . 
that  drunkards  shall  not  inherit  the  kingdom  of  God " 
(2  Cor.  9  :  10). 

u  What  is  a  drunkard  ?  Is  it  a  man  who  gets  drunk  ?  If 
so,  millions  go  to  hell.  Or  is  it  a  man  that  chooses  the  wrong 
in  preference  to  the  right  and  puts  his  heart  into  disobeying 
God  and  wrecking  his  hopes  here  and  hereafter  ?" 

"  Well,"  said  Sam,  "  without  deciding  as  to  who  is  guilty 
of  the  sin  of  drunkenness,  were  there  no  other  reason  for  press- 
ing the  claims  of  temperance  upon  the  attention,  that  were 
enough.  The  drunkard  is  shut  out  of  heaven  and  is  doomed  to 
an  eternal  hell.  Whether  all  intemperate  people  can  be  classed 
with  drunkards  must  be  decided  at  a  higher  tribunal." 

Sam  was  full  of  this  theme.  He  had  just  come  from  an 
engineer's  home  who  was  fast  hastening  to  ruin.  He  had 
promised  reformation  again  and  again.  He  had  signed  the 
pledge  and  yet  he  was  down  once  more.  Intemperance  is 
horrid  in  its  workings  and  more  horrid  in  its  results.  The 
Bible  is  full  of  warnings  for  the  imperilled,  and  of  offers  of 
help  to  the  degraded  and  the  fallen.  For  the  wounded  it  fur- 
nishes the  balm  of  Gilead,  and  to  the  sick  it  sends  Christ,  the 
great  Physician.  The  apostle  ranks  drunkenness  with  other 
gross  sins  and  crimes.  Society  at  the  present  time  is  disposed 
to  treat  it  as  a  disease,  and  to  class  drunkards  not  with  crimi- 


1'JG  SAM    HOBAKT. 

nals,  but  with  unfortunates,  with  lunatics,  with  paralytics,  with 
half-witted  people.  Intemperance,  in  other  words,  is  spoken 
of  as  a  disease.  Drinking  is  not  regarded  as  a  sin,  so  long  as 
it  is  held  in  check  and  is  under  restraint. 

A  drunkard's  peril  is  felt  to  begin  when  drinking  passes  into 
intemperance,  and  when  appetite  gains  control  of  the  victim. 
Is  this  a  safe  view  ?  Is  it  the  correct  opinion  to  hold  and  to 
proclaim  ?  Or  does  the  individual  begin  to  be  intemperate 
when  he  begins  to  indulge  in  the  use  of  intoxicants.  In  ap- 
proaching this  subject,  I  do  it  with  the  sincere  desire  of  doing 
good. 

Differences  of  opinion  abound.  I  will  not  characterize  nor 
describe  them.  Let  us  call  attention  to  this  question,  Shall  in- 
temperance be  treated  as  a  disease  or  as  a  crime  ?  That  it 
resembles  disease  none  can  doubt.  It  produces  terrible  and 
loathsome  sickness.  Nothing  is  more  repulsive  than  the 
drunkard  getting  over  his  debauch.  He  has  been  locked  in 
the  embrace  of  a  stupid  sleep.  He  begins  to  come  back  to 
consciousness.  He  yawns.  His  stomach  can  retain  the  poison 
no  longer,  and  ejects  it. 

He  cannot  bear  water.  His  whole  diseased  nature  cries  out 
for  rum  to  satisfy  the  wants  of  a  prostrate  system.  His  fancy 
is  distempered.  His  nerves  are  unstrung.  He  is  miserable, 
and  would  be  an  object  of  pity  were  it  not  that  he  went  into 
danger  warned  and  made  the  bed  willingly  on  which  the  laws 
of  nature  compel  him  to  recline.  That  intemperance  produces 
disease  there  can  be  no  question.  The  symptoms  are  very 
manifest.  These  are  some  of  them  :  It  creates  an  appetite  and 
forms  a  habit  which  induces  a  man  to  drink  at  stated  periods. 
At  times  it  is  moderate  in  its  demands.  It  asks  for  wine  only 
at  dinner.  Again  it  makes  periodical  attacks.  Some  men 
drink  to  intoxication  once  a  week,  others  once  a  month,  and 
others  once  a  year.  But  the  watcher  within  rings  his  bell  at 
the  moment  and  sends  the  victim  after  his  potion.  If  there 
is  one  that  begins  to  give  way  to  the  rule  of  appetite  the  fact 
may  be  known,  because  it  bestirs  itself  at  certain  times  and  in 


A    PliOBLEM    HAKIJ    TO    6ULVK.  197 

certain  places.  Whoever  finds  the  desire  for  drink  returning 
at  stated  intervals,  is  warned  of  his  danger.  He  must  deny 
himself  if  he  expects  to  escape  confirmed  intemperance.  If  he 
associates  drinking  with  sports  and  pastimes,  if  he  looks  for- 
ward to  convivial  pleasure  with  anticipation  of  delight,  he  is  in 
peril.  Some  contend  that  they  are  safe,  because  they  only 
take  the  social  glass  when  the  day's  work  is  done.  Is  any  one 
safe  ?  Millions  are  to-day  wailing  in  a  drunkard's  hell  because 
they  once  fearlessly  trod  the  «edge  of  this  precipice.  They 
went  one  step  too  far,  and  went  down.  A  distinguished 
United  States  Senator  wrecked  here  his  bark  of  hope.  He 
began  to  use  wine  with  jovial  companions  in  the  evening,  after 
business  was  over.  He  began  to  be  a  drunkard  then.  Noth- 
ing is  better  known  or  more  absolutely  proven  than  the  inviola- 
bility of  nature's  laws.  Now,  drinking  intoxicants,  no  matter 
how  small  the  quantity,  produces  an  appetite.  That  appetite 
influences  the  individual.  If  tampered  with,  it  produces  a  dis- 
eased state  of  the  system.  Men  who  drink  tell  us  that  there 
are  hundreds  of  nerves  that  seem  to  rouse  up  like  beasts,  and 
cry  with  one  voice  at  certain  periods  for  drink.  They  will  not 
be  content  with  anything  else.  The  stomach  becomes  dis- 
eased— this  affects  the  imagination.  Pain,  uneasiness,  and 
distress  is  the  result.  Intemperance,  if  it  deserved  to  be  called 
a  disease,  is  the  product  of  sin.  Some  one  asks,  Can  that  be 
disease  which  people  insist  upon  having  ?  Whoever  saw  a  man 
expose  himself  recklessly  for  the  purpose  of  taking  a  malignant 
disease  ?  Yet  here  is  an  ailment  which  destroys  men  and 
women  by  the  thousand  ;  it  produces  poverty,  distress,  cruelty, 
and  death  to  all  the  nobler  powers  of  the  mind  and  heart  ;  it 
wrecks  the  frame,  breaks  down  the  constitution,  and  places 
some  of  the  noblest  of  the  land  in  the  vortex  of  ruin,  and  yet 
many  forget  to  warn  against  it.  We  warn  against  yellow 
fever,  against  malignant  forms  of  disease  of  every  class.  We 
build  up  great  institutions  and  make  ships  lie  by  in  quarantine, 
and  yet  permit  this  plague  of  intemperance  to  go  on  unwarned 


]98  SAM    HOB  ART. 

against,  and  see  children,  men,  and  women  expose  themselves 
without  remonstrance. 

The  objections  to  treating  intemperance  as  a  disease  are 
many,  and  some  of  them  are  well  taken.  The  moment  you 
talk  about  it  as  a  disease  rather  than  as  a  sin  against  God  and  a 
crime  against  man,  you  pity  it,  if  you  do  not  pet  it.  You 
throw  away  moral  power  which  you  need  to  combat  the  influ- 
ence of  the  monster.  A  man  has  the  fever  and  ague.  He 
does  not  feel  disgraced  by  it.  He  is  diseased.  He  is  sick, 
and  feels  that  he  ought  not  to  be  found  fault  with  because  of 
that.  Call  his  intemperance  a  disease  and  you  place  him  in 
the  same  situation.  Call  it  a  sin.  Denounce  it  as  a  sin. 
Take  ground  against  it,  and  you  may  save  the  man. 

By  so  doing  we  tell  the  truth  by  act  as  well  as  speech.  We 
do  not  abandon  moral  suasion  for  legal  suasion,  nor  do  we  turn 
the  minds  of  the  people  away  from  their  duty  of  remonstrating 
against  indulging  in  drink  because  we  at  the  same  time  oppose 
those  who  place  the  pitfall  of  destruction  in  the  path  of  the 
unwary.  By  treating  intemperance  as  a  crime  you  array 
society  against  it.  You  destroy  the  feeling  of  commiseration 
which  the  victim  delights  to  cherish.  You  array  the  nobler 
nature  against  the  baser,  the  higher  against  the  lower. 

"The  trouble  is,"  said  Sam,  "  the  drunkard  don't  care 
whether  you  call  his  appetite  a  disease  or  a  crime.  His  heart 
is  gross,  his  ears  are  dull  of  hearing,  and  his  eyes  are  closed 
lest  he  should  be  saved.  He  wants  drink,  and  drink  he  will 
have,  cost  what  it  may. ' ' 

"  Not  always,  Sam." 

Then  I  told  him  of  my  experience  with  a  man  who  was  the 
son  of  a  Congregationalist  deacon,  who  had  married  a  beautiful 
woman  for  a  wife,  and  began  to  drink.  Children  grew  up  about 
him.  His  home  was  a  wreck  ;  never  will  I  forget  the  sight 
my  eyes  beheld,  as  I  entered  it  for  the  first  time.  The  man 
was  a  confirmed  infidel,  so  called,  when  sober,  and  when  drunk 
was  apparently  religious.  Hence  his  wife,  at  the  close  of  a 
sermon  said  : 


A   PROBLEM   HARD   TO   SOLVE.  199 

"  The  next  time  my  husband  is  drunk  I  want  you  to  come 
and  see  him." 

I  replied,  "  I  don't  want  to  see  your  husband  when  drunk  ; 
let  me  see  him  when  sober." 

She  said,  4<  No.  When  sober  he  hates  you.  When  drunk 
he  likes  you  and  imagines  you  could  deliver  him. " 

"  All  right,  I  will  go." 

In  a  few  days,  on  a  snowy  day  in  November,  a  little  bare- 
footed boy  rang  the  door-bell.  The  girl  told  of  the  pitiable 
object.  I  went  and  saw  him.  He  said  : 

"  My  father  is  drunk,  and  my  mother  says  you  said  you 
would  come  and  see  him." 

Calling  the  little  fellow  in  and  after  getting  him  a  pair  of 
stockings  and  shoes  we  started  for  the  drunkard's  home.  We 
found  him  sitting  on  a  broken  chair  at  a  broken  table,  eating 
from  broken  dishes  a  drunkard's  meal.  He  was  wild  with 
drink.  His  abode  was  a  drunkard's  home. 

A  little  pale-faced  child  lay  on  a  broken  lounge,  covered  by 
the  thin  dress  of  the  mother.  The  children  crept  about  the 
room  in  fear  of  their  natural  protector,  who  had  been  changed 
by  strong  drink  into  a  tyrant.  We  talked  about  his  sin.  We 
did  not  pity  him — we  condemned  him.  We  pointed  out  the 
result  of  his  sin.  He  began  to  apologize  for  it.  He  said  ap- 
petite had  mastered  him.  He  could  not  pass  a  rum-shop  with- 
out entering  it.  We  called  the  longing  for  drink  sin  as  the 
desire  for  murder  is  sin.  The  act  of  drinking  is  a  crime  as  the 
commission  of  murder  is  a  crime.  Then  we  held  up  to  him 
the  picture  of  the  past  and  the  possibility  of  the  future,  and 
asked  him  to  stand  with  us  in  opposition  to  his  sin.  He  did 
so  and  was  saved,  though  the  appeal  to  him  as  an  unfortunate 
had  ever  failed.  It  is  true  that  if  you  cannot  get  men  to  feel 
that  drinking  is  a  sin  and  a  crime,  it  is  impossible  to  exert  a 
restraining  influence  over  them. 

"  All  right,"  said  Sam,  "  go  with  me  and  see  my  friend. 
Try  him.  He  hates  rum  when  he  is  sober.  He  will  for  days 
tell  me  of  his  fear,  as  would  Uniac,  and  then  he  will  go  down. 


;>(JO  SAM    HUBAKT. 

He  is  not  one  of  your  animal  drunkards  who  drinks  to  be 
drunk,  nor  a  rowdy  drunkard  who  goes  on  a  spree  to  smash 
things,  but  he  buys  it  and  goes  home  with  a  sad  look  in  his 
eye,  shuts  himself  up  in  his  room,  and  drinks.  He  is  there 
now.  Come  and  see  him. M 

Never  can  I  forget  the  look  of  his  wife  as  we  entered.  The 
home  was  neatness  itself.  The  man  was  in  a  room  alone.  As 
we  entered  Sam  said  : 

44  John,  I  have  brought  my  pastor  to  see  if  we  can't  help 
you.  We  have  been  asking  whether  intemperance  was  a 
disease  or  a  crime." 

4 *  It  is  both,"  said  John. 

"Both?" 

"  Yes,  both.  It  begins  a  sin,  and  it  ends  as  a  dis- 
ease." 

"  True  ;  but  the  sin  does  not  die  while  the  disease  is 
active." 

"  No  ;  it  is  both  a  disease  and  a  sin." 

"  Well,  then,  of  one  thing  you  may  be  sure.  The  Lord 
Jesus  was  a  Saviour  from  sin  and  a  healer  of  disease." 

"  Drink  is  a  devil,"  said  John.  "  It  is  a  sin,  a  disease,  and 
a  devil." 

44  Well,  Jesus  cast  out  devils." 

44  Is  he  in  the  business  yet  ?" 

44  Yes." 

44  Then  I  am  his  man." 

44  Agreed,"  said  Sam.      44  Will  you  obey  orders  ?" 

4<  Yes,"  replied  John,  as  if  he  meant  it. 

Sam  turned  to  me  and  said  : 

44  Pastor,  will  you  take  the  job  off  from  my  hands  ?" 

44  We  will  take  it  to  our  Lord." 

Then  opening  to  Mark  5  :  2  I  read  of  the  man  who  met 
Christ  coming  out  of  the  tombs  with  an  unclean  spirit  and  no 
man  could  bind  him,  no,  not  with  chains. 

44  He  is  worse  than  you,  John  ?" 

"  Yes  ;  worse  until  the  delirium  comes  on." 


A    PROBLEM    HARD   TO    SOLVE.  201 

Now  this  man  went  and  worshipped  Christ.  Let  us  do  the 
same  thing. 

John  looked  and  said,  "  But  I  am  half  drunk. " 

"  God  knows  it,"  said  Sam. 

After  a  moment  I  added,  "  Let  us  pray  together." 

All  bowed,  and  after  a  short  prayer  we  asked  the  man  to  take 
Christ  as  his  Saviour  from  the  power  of  rum. 

He  did  so,  and  we  came  away.  Months  passed.  The  man 
was  saved  for  a  time.  At  length,  to  finish  the  story,  Sam  came 
and  said  :  li  John  has  begun  again." 

"  Begun  to  drink?" 

"  No  ;  but  he  is  being  tempted.  He  says  he  dare  not  go  by 
a  certain  saloon." 

"  Bring  him  here." 

He  came.  His  face  wore  a  troubled  look.  He  told  his 
story.  "  I  always  begin  to  drink  at  one  place.  It  has  been 
so  for  two  days  that  I  dare  not  walk  that  way." 

I  said,  li  Give  Jesus  glory  right  there.  Call  on  him  in 
prayer  at  the  very  door  of  the  saloon,  and  let  him  deliver  you 
and  shame  this  lurking  devil." 

The  next  day  at  high  noon  in  the  crowded  streets  a  man  was 
seen  on  his  knees  crying  to  God  for  help.  Men  came  out  from 
the  saloon  and  found  John  in  prayer.  They  asked  him  what 
was  the  matter.  He  told  them.  His  old  companions  helped 
him  on  his  feet,  walked  him  off,  and  he  was  victor  once  more. 

There  are  many  kinds  of  drunkards.  There  is  the  social 
drunkard,  who  will  not  drink  or  smoke  alone.  With  him  it  is 
not  a  desire.  It  must  be  a  sin.  Then  there  is  the  respectable 
drunkard,  who  drinks  as  a  help  in  business  or  because  it  is 
fashionable.  If  he  can  be  persuaded  that  he  is  mistaken  he 
can  be  made  an  apostle  for  the  cause.  The  literary  drunkards 
are  the  men  who  drink  in  order  that  through  the  exciting  and 
stimulating  effects  of  intoxicating  fluids,  whose  effects  alone 
they  seek,  the  "  intelligence  may  keep  pace  with,  and  on  cer- 
tain occasions  be  made  to  outstrip  itself. "  Such  forget  the 
law,  "  that  they  who  gain  the  mastery  are  temperate." 


202  SAM    HOliAKT. 

The  use  of  ardent  spirits,  employed  as  an  auxiliary  to  labor, 
-is  the  most  fatal,  because  the  most  common  and  least  suspected 
cause  of  intemperance.  It  is  justified  as  innocent  ;  it  is  in- 
sisted on  as  necessary.  But  no  fact  is  more  completely  estab- 
lished by  experience  than  that  it  is  utterly  useless  and  ultimately 
injurious,  besides  all  the  fearful  evils  of  habitual  intemperance 
to  which  it  so  often  leads. 

There  is  no  nutrition  in  ardent  spirits.  All  that  it  does  is  to 
concentrate  the  strength  of  the  system  for  the  time  beyond  the 
capacity  for  regular  exertion,  It  is  borrowing  strength  for  an 
occasion  which  will  be  needed  for  futurity,  without  any  pro- 
vision for  payment,  and  with  the  certainty  of  ultimate  bank- 
ruptcy. 

Among  this  class  are  the  mightiest  intellects  of  the  time  and 
age.  They  are  in  the  immediate  and  active  performance  of  the 
highest  works  of  their  calling,  and  the  most  arduous  tasks  of 
their  brain.  Names  like  Webster  and  Byron  and  Edgar  A.  Poe 
give  dignity  to  their  class.  Their  tasks  are  herculean  and  their 
gifts  of  intelligence  almost  superhuman.  Now  they  begin  to 
see,  to  feel,  to  know,  that  there  is  yet  the  unattained  within 
the  scope  of  their  minds,  greater  speed  in  their  mental  ma- 
chine, that  cannot,  they  think,  be  reached  without  the  addition 
of  extra  fire,  over  and  above  that  immense  evolution  of  the 
latent  powers,  set  in  motion  by  the  undying  forces  of  an  im- 
mortal mind. 

They  do  not  drink  in  crowds.  They  take  their  bottle  of  ale 
to  the  study  and  drink  it  off  quietly  and  deliberately,  and  de- 
light themselves  in  the  beautiful  fancies  that  come  and  go  flit- 
ting before  them,  creatures  of  the  brain  waiting  to  tenant  the 
world  as  creations  of  the  pen  or  of  the  speech. 

This  class  must  be  treated  carefully.  The  world  wants  their 
power  and  is  willing  to  pay  any  price  for  it.  You  see  repre- 
sentatives of  this  class  among  the  paid  contributors  to  the 
press.  You  will  find  them  in  retreats  for  drunkards,  in  insane 
asylums,  and  in  prisons.  Some  of  them  have  fallen  very  low. 
They  are  brilliant  with  the  pen  and  in  speech.  Their  produc- 


A    PROBLEM    HARD    TO    SOLVE.  203 

lions  are  eagerly  caught  up  by  the  press.  They  work  with 
resistless  energy.  They  seldom  fall  very  low  or  commit  great 
excess.  The  same  great  mind  which  called  for  stimulants  bids 
them  beware,  and  continues  to  be  their  controlling  power. 
They  drink  for  their  brain  power,  forgetful  of  the  fact  that  the 
world  can  get  on  without  their  splendid  productions  while  it 
ought  not  to  be  compelled  to  get  on  without  a  decent  character 
behind  their  brilliant  reputation.  To  save  them  requires  great 
wisdom  and  friendly  remonstrance,  backed  by  deeds  of  love. 
No  taunts,  no  discouragements,  nor  bars,  nor  bolts  ;  but  a  never- 
failing,  never- wearying,  affectionate  care  unto  the  very  end, 
though  he  "  sin  seventy  times  seven. "  They  are  not  as  easily 
reached  by  human  sympathy  or  appeal. 

Another  species  is  described  as  the  inner-man  drunkard. 
They  are  endowed  with  the  highest  types  of  intelligence,  but 
superadded  to  that  and  towering  far  above  it,  and  domineering 
over  it,  is  the  most  exquisitely  sensitive  organization  of  the 
inner  man  that  is  created,  and  it  is  born  unto  grief  and  sorrow 
as  the  sparks  fly  upward. 

This  form  is  accompanied  by  the  most  terrible  moral  suffer- 
ings orr  earth,  and  if  unwashed  of  sin  and  unredeemed,  their 
anguish  in  hell  must  be  indescribable  and  beyond  compare  the 
most  intense  of  all. 

Is  there  a  talented  and  witty  youth  that  finds  in  the  delirium 
of  intoxication,  whether  of  tobacco  or  ram  or  opium,  a  pleasure 
that  is  indescribable  ?  Your  joy  is  the  prelude  to  a  terrible 
sorrow,  and  the  heaven  you  find  in  intoxication  points  to  a 
dreary  drunkard's  hell.  The  sorrows  already  experienced  are 
as  nothing  in  comparison  with  those  ready  to  begin. 

Abstinence  from  drink  puts  to  sleep  the  nerves  that,  when 
aroused,  like  a  million  of  serpents  open  their  mouths  and  cry 
for  drink.  One  glass  wakens  them  and  makes  the  man  their 
victim.  Call  it  a  crime.  Treat  it,  as  does  God,  as  a  sin.  Put 
it  on  a  par  with  fornication,  idolatry,  adultery,  abusers  of 
themselves  with  mankind.  Place  the  drunkard  where  God 
places,  him,  among  thieves  and  outlaws  and  revellers  and  extor- 


204  SAM    HO  BART. 

tioners,  and  then  you  may  reach  him  by  law  as  well  as  by 
moral  suasion.  Call  it  a  crime,  and  what  looks  worse  ? 

What  sin  compares  with  it  in  harvests  ?  Look  at  the  reports 
of  the  police,  and  see  that  it  furnishes  nearly  all  of  the  occa- 
sions of  arrest.  Its  fires  feed  and  sustain  the  brothel.  It  arms 
the  midnight  assassin  and  gives  courage  to  the  garroter.  Of 
twenty-four  men  in  Charlestown  prison  for  wife-murder  twenty, 
three  were  drunk.  It  was  this  that  steadied  the  hand  that 
aimed  the  pistol  whose  bullet  pierced  the  heart  of  Abraham 
Lincoln.  It  binds  shackles  about  the  limbs,  and  turns  the  key 
that  pushes  the  bolt  of  the  prison.  And  yet  men  say,  "  I  am 
going  to  enjoy  my  liberty,  and  drink. "  Follow  him. 

I  chanced  to  be  in  a  station-house  when  a  fine-looking  man 
was  led  in.  His  name  was  called.  The  flask  of  rum  was 
taken  from  him,  and  he  was  remanded  to  his  cell.  How  cruel 
to  treat  a  sick  man  thus. 

Treat  intemperance  as  a  sin  and  a  crime,  and  you  can  hold 
up  their  only  remedy.  Then  men  will  preach  against  it  in 
pulpits  and  talk  against  it  in  Sabbath-schools. 

Think  of  the  picture  presented  by  the  Rev.  William  M. 
Thayer  of  the  Alliance.  He  was  speaking  to  a  Band  of  Hope, 
when  a  young  man  of  thirty-two  entered,  took  a  seat,  and 
listened,  and  at  the  close  of  the  meeting  walked  up  to  say,  "  I 
am  a  drunkard  beyond  recovery. " 

He  was  of  a  wealthy  family.  He  had  formed  the  habit  of 
drink.  Since  his  return  from  the  army  he  had  pawned  clothes 
for  rum.  He  was  then  shirtless  and  stockingless.  Poor  man. 
He  is  but  a  specimen  of  a  mighty  class.  He  wept  because  he 
had  not  been  warned  when  young.  Let  not  our  young  thus 
speak  in  after  years. 

Remember,  three  fourths  of  the  crimes  committed  are  the 
result  of  intemperance  among  the  old  and  the  young  alike. 

"  The  remedy, "  said  Sam,  "  is  to  stop  drinking  by  the  help 
of  God  in  the  same  way  that  any  other  sin  is  abstained  from. 
You  are  to  break  off  your  sins  by  righteousness,  by  Christ's 
help." 


A    PROBLEM   HARD   TO   SOLVE.  205 

True  ;  and  yet  the  misfortune  is  that  such  is  the  effect  of 
drink,  that  when  a  man  is  free  from  it  he  thanks  himself,  and 
when  drunk  he  prays  to  God  for  help. 

Then  get  men  to  take  Christ  as  a  Saviour  against  all  that 
destroys  and  as  a  helper  to  do  good  in  the  world,  and  drunkards 
will  be  redeemed  and  go  battle-harnessed  into  the  fight  for 
temperance  and  for  whatever  glorifies  God  and  helps  man.  On 
this  ground  Sam  came  and  took  his  stand,  and  became  a  poten- 
tial force  in  the  fight  against  the  demon  in  strong  drink. 


CHAPTER  XVI. 

SAM'S    LOVE    FOR    TEIE    YOUNG. 

Barzillai  Snow,  his  Br  other -in-laio,  Dying  like  a  Hero. 

SAM'S  love  for  the  young  was  a  distinguishing  trait  in  his 
character.  He  delighted  to  twine  the  tendrils  of  their  young 
natures  about  the  rugged  strength  of  his  life. 

The  story  is  told  of  Daniel  Webster,  that  on  one  of  his 
summer  excursions  into  the  wilds  of  New  Hampshire,  he 
became  interested  in  his  guide  who  led  him  to  the  best  brooks 
for  trout,  and  placed  him  at  the  best  points  on  the  runways 
for  deer.  The  guide  was  not  only  expert  as  a  sportsman,  but 
evidenced  an  inquiring  mind  which  charmed  the  great  states- 
man, and  so  he  revealed  himself  to  the  stranger,  told  him  that 
he  was  a  senator  from  Massachusetts,  and  offered  to  show  him 
the  wonders  of  the  Capitol  in  return  for  the  expert  manner  he 
had  exhibited  to  him  the  glories  of  the  wilderness. 

Months  passed.  At  last,  one  morning,  a  tall,  awkward- 
looking  man  was  seen  at  the  Capitol,  inquiring  for  Daniel 
Webster.  Men  jeered  at  him,  but  he  heeded  them  not,  for  he 
was  content  with  his  acquaintance,  and  knew  that  in  due  time 
he  should  receive  a  welcome.  Hours  passed.  At  length  the 
Senate  was  in  session,  and  this  uncouth  and  quaint-looking 
backwoodsman  stood  at  the  door  of  the  Senate  and  inquired, 
"  Is  Daniel  Webster  in  ?"  "  He  is,"  replied  the  door-keeper. 
"  Please  give  him  this  card."  It  was  done.  No  sooner  had 
the  noble  statesman  glanced  at  it  than  he  rose,  went  to  the 
door,  grasped  his  friend  by  the  hand,  placed  him  beside  him 
at  his  desk,  and  after  a  little  time  went  with  him  to  the  cloth- 


SAM'S   LOVE    FOR   THE    YOUNG.  J>0? 

ing-store,  dressed  him  up  in  new  clothes,  took  him  to  his  house, 
and  lifted  the  unknown  stranger  to  his  own  high  companion- 
ship, and  proved  himself  as  good  a  guide  in  Washington  as  the 
guide  had  proven  himself  to  be  in  New  Hampshire.  This  may 
be  fable  ;  it  may  be  fact  ;  but  it  illustrates  the  feeling  that 
thrilled  the  heart  of  Sam  Hobart  when  he  invited  his  brother- 
in  law,  whom  he  had  learned  to  love,  up  among  the  hills  of 
Vermont,  to  come  to  Boston  and  engage  in  railroad  work. 

Barzillai,  son  of  Zenas  and  Roxanna  Snow,  was  born  in  Lunen- 
burg,  Vermont,  December  3d,  1840.  His  mother  died  when 
he  was  four  years  old.  He  remained  with  his  father  on  the 
farm  until  he  was  twenty-one  years  of  age,  in  accordance  with 
the  good  old  fashion,  after  which  he  went  from  home  to  work 
for  wages.  During  the  war  he  enlisted  as  a  nine-months  man 
in  the  13th  Vermont  Regiment,  Company  K,  Capt.  Ford. 
This  regiment  was  present  at  the  battle  of  Getty sburgh  and 
helped  drive  Lee  across  the  river,  being  in  the  front  ranks. 
Though  Gettysburgh  was  the  culminating  battle  of  the  war,  it 
was  by  no  means  the  end  of  the  rebellion.  New  York  was  full 
of  riot,  and  her  foreign  population,  led  on  by  infuriated  trai- 
tors, not  only  burned  orphan  asylums  and  trampled  upon  inno- 
cent children,  but  determined  to  resist  the  draft,  by  which  it 
was  hoped  the  depleted  ranks  of  the  army  might  be  filled  up 
and  the  war  brought  to  a  speedy  close.  As  a  result,  Gen.  B. 
F.  Butler,  the  terror  of  the  enemies  of  the  Republic,  was 
ordered  to  New  York  to  quell  the  riot  and  hold  the  city  in  sub- 
jugation. The  13th  Vermont  accompanied  him  and  evidenced 
in  the  city  the  same  characteristics  which  had  distinguished 
them  in  Virginia  and  at  Gettysburgh.  Their  term  of  service 
expired  in  August,  1863,  but  they  cheerfully  remained  until 
their  work  was  done,  after  which  they  received  their  discharge 
and  returned  home.  In  September  of  the  same  year,  Mr.  Snow 
came  to  Boston  and  engaged  as  fireman  for  the  Boston  and 
Albany  R.  R.  at  the  invitation  of  Mr.  Samuel  B.  Hobart,  his 
brother-in-law,  and  at  the  urgent  request  of  his  sister.  For  one 
week  he  worked  as  fireman  under  the  eye  of  him  who  had 


208  SAil    HOBAUT. 

loved  him  from  his  youth.  He  was  an  adept  at  work,  and  soon 
mastered  the  business  and  became  able  to  guide  the  iron  horse, 
and  so  entered  upon  the  discharge  of  the  responsibilities  of  his 
profession  as  eng'neer. 

John  Smith  was  his  second  teacher.  Mr.  Bacon  was  his 
third.  All  were  kind  to  him  and  were  held  in  high  esteem  by 
him.  The  young  man  did  his  work  well.  He  did  not  se.'k  to 
get  on  too  fast,  nor  did  he  shirk  any  task  or  responsibility  in- 
cident to  his  position. 

His  advancement  was  rapid.  The  eye  of  Mr.  A.  B.  Under- 
bill, the  Master  Mechanic,  was  on  him,  and  he  was  soon  sum- 
moned to  come  up  higher,  I  believe  against  the  protest  of  his 
brother-in-law,  who  feared  he  was  not  ready  for  the  offered 
position. 

There  are  some  facts  connected  with  this  portion  of  his  ap- 
prenticeship which  deserve  mention.  He  neither  used  tobacco 
nor  spirituous  liquors.  He  was  pure  in  thought  and  speech. 
He  was  once  complained  of  for  using  profane  language  to  one 
above  him.  When  summoned  before  the  Superintendent,  the 
manner  in  which  he  said  "  I  never  swear"  convinced  the  officer 
that  there  was  a  mistake,  and  the  charge  was  dropped. 

He  had  his  eyes  and  ears  open  to  acquire  knowledge  of  his 
business.  He  soon  mastered  the  locomotive,  inside  and  out, 
and  understood  it.  He  loved  his  work  and  became  an  enthu- 
siast. Asa  fireman  he  would  do  his  best  to  keep  the  engine 
up  to  time,  and  as  an  engineer  he  was  prompt  and  attentive  to 
business.  As  engineer  he  went  first  upon  a  switching  engine 
and  moved  freight  for  some  time  in  the  railroad  yard. 
From  there  he  went  on  to  the  night  freight,  and  was  after- 
ward placed  as  engineer  on  the  Grand  Junction,  running  from 
Cottage  Farm  to  East  Boston,  and  connecting  with  the  Fitch- 

o  ~ 

burg,  Lowell,  Boston  and  Maine  and  Eastern  Railroads.  He 
was  economical.  lie  saved  his  earnings,  and  husbanded  not 

O     ' 

for  himself  but  for  others.  His  father  and  brother  both  were 
helped  by  him,  and  their  farms  are  to-day  more  secure  to  them 
because  of  the  diligence,  economy  and  forethought  of  this 


SAM'S    LOVE    FOH   THE    YOUXG.  209 

busy  engineer.  He  loved.  This  was  his  chief  characteristic. 
His  friends  were  to  him  all  the  world.  Those  who  befriended 
him  were  never  forgotten,  and  by  industry  and  calculation  he 
sought  to  deserre  the  confidence  and  regard  of  those  with 
whom  he  labored  as  well  as  those  by  whom  he  was  employed. 
As  a  result,  his  promotion  was  rapid.  The  position  he  held 
when  lie  died  was  one  of  great  responsibility,  and  he  filled  it  to 
the  satisfaction  of  all.  He  never  grumbled  or  complained. 
When  a  conductor  had  been  all  night  battling  with  sleet  and 
snow  and  tempest,  in  the  morning  when  they  came  off  con- 
queror he  said,  "  that  engineer  did  his  work  in  a  superb  man- 
ner. He  never  found  fault  or  got  excited  during  the  entire 
nighty  but  met  difficulties  and  mastered  them  and  brought  us 
through."  It  was  a  splendid  compliment  and  faHy  and  bravely 
won.  Judging  from  what  he  had  accomplished,  there  is  hardly 
anything  he  could  not  have  been. 

He  was  converted  in  his  youth,  but  had  wandered.  The 
gospel  as  preached  in  the  Temple  touched  his  heart,  and  he  re- 
turned to  his  first  love.  His  coming  into  the  light  of  Christ's 
love  was  a  wonderful  joy  to  him  and  to  those  who  loved  him. 
In  the  house  of  his  brother-in-law  they  felt  like  "  killing  the 
fatted  calf."  At  this  time  we  became  acquainted.  Well  do  I 
remember  his  clearness  of  statement,  his  unqualified  determina- 
tion to  do  his  duty.  He  was  convinced  that  the  gospel  com- 
manded him  not  only  to  believe  but  to  be  baptized.  He  had 
believed  but  had  not  obeyed  this  command.  He  came  to  do 
so.  His  experience  was  noteworthy,  and  attracted  the  atten- 
tion of  the  Committee  and  Church.  He  believed  the  gospel. 
He  saw  himself  lost,  undone,  without  Christ  and  without 
hope.  He  repented  of  his  misspent  life.  He  confessed  his 
sins.  He  had  no  faith  in  good  works.  He  believed  that  Jesus 
Christ  was  the  way,  the  truth  and  the  life  ;  and  as  he  knew  that 
he  could  not  drive  his  locomotive  to  Worcester  from  Boston 
without  the  track,  so  he  felt  that  though  he  might  seek  to  be 
good  and  moral  and  exemplary,  he  could  not  go  to  heaven 
without  Jesus,  who  is  the  way.  Jesus  was  therefore  to  him  his 


SAM   HOBAKT. 

all  and  in  all.  He  accepted  the  gospel  as  authority  and  gladly 
submitted  himself  to  its  commands. 

Having  made  Christ  master,  he  sought  to  become  a  faithful 
servant.  He  was  enthusiastic  in  this  service.  His  face  shone, 
his  eye  sparkled,  his  words  gleamed  with  love,  as  he  stood 
before  us  and  asked  baptism  at  our  hands.  On  Sabbath,  March 
5th,  1871,  he  followed  Christ  in  His  ordinance.  Well  do  I 
remember  his  appearance  as  he  descended  into  the  baptismal 
grave.  Around  him  was  a  vast  multitude.  I  spoke  of  him  as 
a  railroad  engineer,  and  of  the  talk  I  had  held  with  his 
brother-in-law  as  I  rode  beside  him  on  his  locomotive,  and 
how  he  had  led  the  way  and  was  permitted  to  rejoice  to-day  in 
seeing  his  youthful  companion  gathering  beneath  the  banner  of 
the  cross,  and  giving  himself  up  to  the  service  of  Christ. 

In  the  few  intervening  months  he  has  kept  step  with  the 
Church,  and  on  the  Tuesday  night  previous  to  his  injury  was  in 
his  accustomed  place  in  the  house  of  God. 

On  Friday  noon,  June  30th,  he  had  lain  down  to  rest,  as 
was  his  custom,  on  a  board  placed  against  the  track  in  the 
engine-house.  Unexpectedly  to  him,  if  not  to  others,  an 
engine  backed  in  upon  him.  The  place  seemed  secure. 
Around  him  were  friends.  The  bell  of  the  engine  was 
sounded,  yet  he  slept  ;  and  the  first  that  was  known  of  his 
peril  came  to  them  and  to  him,  when  the  board  on  which  he 
lay  was  crushed  under  the  iron  tread  of  the  locomotive,  and  he 
and  they  awoke  to  see  him  wounded  in  both  feet  and  his  life 
imperilled.  He  died  July  4th,  and  was  buried  July  6th, 
1871,  from  his  place  of  baptism  and  love.  The  facts  con- 
nected with  his  life  and  death  deserve  consideration.  He 
became  a  power  by  being  faithful  in  little  things.  He  never 
did  any  one  thing  calculated  to  acquire  special  fame,  and  yet 
Sam  treasured  the  memory  of  his  little  acts,  so  full  of  thought- 
fulness  and  love,  like  leaping  to  help  him  on  with  his  coat,  car- 
rying his  pail  home  from  the  Round  House,  being  always 
prompt  at  the  meetings,  being  devotedly  fond  of  sister  and  of 
friends,  and  so  living  with  engineers,  firemen  and  workingrnen, 


SAM'S   LOVE   FOR   THE   YOITNTG.  211 

that  they  declared  themselves  impoverished  by  the  withdrawal 
of  his  quiet  and  undemonstrative  piety.  Though  unknown  to 
the  world,  he  was  well  known  to  Christ  and  to  Christians  ;  and 
so  died  in  the  ripeness  of  his  strength,  and  went  as  a  shock  of 
corn  in  its  season. 

In  this  fact  there  lies  a  lesson  which  ought  not  to  be  over- 
looked. 

It  proves  that  the  key  to  success  lies  close  beside  us  and 
within  reach  of  all,  and  is  obtained  by  patient  continuance  in 
well-doing.  There  is  in  every  nature  a  prophet  for  the  future. 
In  other  words,  each  individual  has  a  talent  for  doing  certain 
work  which  must  be  observed  if  he  would  exert  his  highest 
and  best  powers.  Do  well  what  you  are  required  to  do,  and 
your  success  is  sure  to  be  commensurate  with  your  talent  and 
diligence.  Duty  is  ours,  not  consequences  ;  and,  as  is  inti- 
mated in  the  words  of  Christ,  there  is  One  who  keeps  watch 
and  ward  over  us,  who  sees  to  it  that  faithfulness  is  rewarded, 
that  skill  and  culture  and  character  are  commodities  in  the 
world  sure  to  produce  advancement. 

Study  the  history  of  the  successful  everywhere,  and  we  per- 
ceive that  success  is  an  outgrowth  and  an  accumulation.  Eep- 
utation  is  but  an  aggregation  of  particles.  The  pearl  which 
glistens  in  the  sunlight  resembles  the  material  lying  hidden  in 
the  shadow.  It  is  because  of  this  truth  that  the  sure  awards  of 
the  future  supply  a  healthy  stimulus  to  action.  They  call  out 
with  a  voice  that  is  unmistakable,  saying  :  "  Discipline,  culture 
and  the  faithful  discharge  of  present  obligation  furnish  the 
mainspring  of  power  and  the  earnest  of  success." 

We  have  what  we  earn  and  are  to  a  large  extent  what  we 
have  endeavored  to  become,  not  what  we  have  dreamed  we 
should  become.  Hence  the  What  am  I  ? — not  in  appearance 
but  in  fact — is  the  determining  question  for  every  man.  The 
victory  of  an  hour  is  not  won  in  an  hour.  Into  it  there  enter 
long  years  of  patient  toil  and  waiting.  Its  value  is  the  greater 
in  the  world's  esteem  because  of  the  cost  of  the  production. 
This  truth  might  be  abundantly  illustrated  by  a  reference  to  the 


vM;J  SAM     HOIiAjii, 

lives  of  the  worthies  of  the  past,  or  by  those  who  are  gathered 
with  us  at  this  hour  and  have  attained  to  distinction,  because 
they  were  faithful  to  the  trusts  reposed  in  them,  and  in  being 
faithful  in  little  things  earned  a  right  to  be  trusted  with  great 
responsibilities. 

This  habit  of  being  temperate,  formed  in  his  youth,  proved 
to  be  of  value  when  the  waves  of  temptation  which  sweep 
across  city  life  struck  against  him.  Right  within,  he  was 
right  without.  Sound  at  heart,  he  was  true  in  life.  Tempta- 
tion is  only  powerful  when  inclination  meets  the  tempter  on  the 
threshold  of  the  heart  and  gives  it  welcome.  It  is  what  a  man 
is  within  that  weakens  or  strengthens  him.  This  truth  should 
be  remembered  and  pondered. 

The  character  brought  from  the  green  hills  of  Vermont 
helped  him  and  held  him  in  Boston  life.  Ah,  it  is  not  what 
men  meet  in  the  city  that  imperils  them,  but  what  they 
brought  from  the  country  that  threatens  them  with  destruction. 
This  young  man  came  here  and  was  tempted  to  drink  and  smoke 
and  wander  in  forbidden  paths,  but  his  resolution  was  formed, 
and  the  waves  that  beat  against  the  rocks  of  Cohasset  have  no 
more  promise  of  entrance  within,  than  had  the  seductiveness  of 
sin,  of  conquering  Bar/illai  Snow. 

Are  there  those  who  have  fallen,  and  who  resemble  broken 
and  dismantled  wrecks,  tossed  on  the  shore  and  pinioned  on 
the  rock  through  which  waves  come  and  go  at  pleasure  ?  The 
reason  is  found  within  and  not  without.  As  a  man  thinketh 
so  is  he.  Character  tells.  You  are  to  the  world  at  last  what 
you  are  to  God  in  fact.  If  pure  and  trustworthy,  and  temper- 
ate and  conscientious,  you  need  not  declare  it.  The  world  will 
know  it  in  good  time.  A  friend  writes  of  him  :  "  In  his 
home-life  he  was  always  correct  and  moral,  never  desecrated 
the  Sabbath  by  going  on  excursions,  never  visited  the  theatre 
nor  other  places  of  forbidden  amusement,  never  swore,  never 
used  intoxicating  drinks — was  ever  kind,  pleasant  and  oblig- 
ing, so  that  those  who  knew  him  best  loved  him  most. M  Into 


HAM'S  LOVE  FUR  TIIK  YOI:XG.  213 

these  sentences,  facts  are  crowded,  which  explain  the  tnan  and 
reveal  his  grand  and  distinguishing  traits,  so  that  his  loss  to  the 
railroad  corporation,  to  society  and  the  church,  is  a  public 
calamity. 

His  education  acquired  in  his  youth  was  a  help  to  him  as  an 
engineer.  Here  we  reach  a  truth  upon  which  all  may  dwell . 
with  profit.  Many  suppose  that  they  need  not  study  geology, 
or  chemistry,  or  higher  mathematics^  or  the  languages,  unless 
the  pursuit  in  life  chosen  requires  it.  In  this  regard  they  make 
their  life  mistake.  No  young  man  or  woman  can  afford  to 
grow  up  ignorant  of  any  truth  which,  by  any  possibility  he  cati 
acquire. 

The  studious  or  reflective  youth  is  cheered  by  the  radiance  of 
hope  which  never  illumines  the  sky  of  the  indolent  and  the 
thoughtless.  Culture  pays.  It  gives  momentum  and  solidity 
to  thought  and  expression.  It  supplies  solitude  with  society, 
and  makes  periods  of  rest  seasons  of  intellectual  refinement.  It 
is  said  that  at  the  battle  of  Gettysburg,  there  was  a  moment 
when  it  seemed  as  though  the  column,  some  hundred  yards  in 
breadth,  sweeping  down  upon  our  forces,  must  crush  and 
master  them.  But  the  Pennsylvania  Reserves,  which  breasted 
this  battle  wave,  had  among  them  a  largo  number  of  the  grad- 
uates of  colleges,  and  were  in  moral  and  mental  standing  the 
superiors  of  the  foe.  To  this  fact,  more  than  to  all  others,  we 
are  indebted  for  that  lifting  up  of  prowess,  and  that  flash  of 
patriotism,  which  appalled  the  rebel  host  and  caused  them  to 
praise  in  their  apparently  resistless  march.  It  is  not  surpris- 
ing. As  the  eye  of  a  man  can  awe  the  beast,  it  is  not  surpris- 
ing that  the  look  of  an  intellectual  man  influences  his  inferiors. 
It  is  known  and  felt  everywhere  that  culture  and  education  tell. 
Men  are  stronger,  broader  and  healthier  because  of  it.  In  the 
studies  of  geology  which  have  characterized  our  morning  ser- 
mons, Barzillai  Snow  was  among  the  most  attentive  of  listeners, 
and  well  do  I  remember  how  eagerly  he  drank  in  the  lessons  of 
science  as  they  were  used  to  illustrate  and  explain  the  teachings 


SAM    HOB  ART. 

of  Scripture.  He  understood  the  joy  experienced  when  a  new 
thought  kindles  its  immortal  flame  in  the  mind,  and  so  he 
could  sing, 

"  Climb,  O  my  soul,  toward  God's  high  things, 

And  He  will  take  thy  part, 
Yea,  though  thou  slumber  in  His  hand, 
He'll  lift  thee  to  His  heart. 

11  Dare  to  aspire  to  lofty  heights, 

Look  up  with  eagle  eyes, 
For  high  as  thou  dost  dare  to  gaze, 
So  high  'tis  thine  to  rise." 

A  hope  in  Christ,  which  is  like  an  anchor  to  the  soul,  ap- 
pears in  its  true  light  at  such  a  time.  When  told  of  his  injury, 
at  once  the  thought  came  rushing  into  the  mind,  "  Thank  God, 
let  come  what  will,  he  is  prepared. "  That  thought  came  to 
him  in  like  manner  when  first  injured,  and  he  said,  "  If  it  is 
God's  will  that  I  go  home  from  such  a  cause,  I  am  ready." 
When  on  Saturday  morning  I  stood  beside  him,  I  felt  sure  he 
was  not  long  for  this  world,  but  there  was  no  trepidation  or 
alarm.  He  was  ready.  That  work  of  preparation  was 
finished.  His  name  was  written  on  the  palms  of  Christ's 
hands.  He  thanked  God,  and  was  content  with  his  hope.  As 
I  quoted  those  words,  "  Let  not  your  heart  be  troubled,  ye 
believe  in  God,  believe  also  in  me  ;  in  my  Father's  house  are 
many  mansions,  if  it  were  not  so  I  would  have  told  you.  I  go 
to  prepare  a  place  for  you/'  I  felt  and  saw  that  they  dropped 
into  a  prepared  place  in  his  heart,  and  fitted  in  perfectly  with 
his  thought  and  hope. 

It  is  impossible  to  describe  the  pleasure  that  comes  to  a 
minister  at  such  a  moment.  Tears  were  exchanged  for  smiles 
as  the  dying  Christian  said,  "  Yes,  it  is  all  right."  "  If  it  be 
God's  will,  I  am  ready."  Whenl  asked,  "  Does  religion  seem 
all  it  claims  to  be,  and  all  you  hoped  it  would  be  ?"  he  replied, 
"  Yes,  more  than  I  thought  it  possible."  He  was  on  the 
rock  cleft  for  him,  and  was  sheltered  from  the  storm.  He 
could  sing, 


SAM'S   LOVE   FOR  THE   YOUNG.  215 

"  Affliction  is  a  stormy  deep, 

Where  wave  resounds  to  wave  ; 
Though  o'er  our  heads  the  billows  roll, 
We  know  the  Lord  can  save. 

"  Here  will  we  rest,  here  build  our  hopes, 

Nor  murmur  at  His  rod  ; 
He's  more  to  us  than  all  the  world — 
Our  health,  our  life,  our  God." 

There  is  in  the  circumstancfes  of  his  death  a  lesson.  He  was 
Killed  because  he  was  asleep.  Men  were  about  him  who  loved 
him,  the  bell  rang  to  warn  him,  but  he  was  killed  because  he 
was  asleep.  How  suggestive  this  fact.  How  impressive  the 
thought.  Is  there  not  a  lesson  for  each  one  ?  Will  men  heed 
it?  Do  we  not  hear  the  admonition,  "  Awake,  thou  that 
sleepest  !"  Are  not  men  all  about  us  asleep,  spiritually,  who 
are  in  great  peril  1  They  are  trusting  to  friends,  to  good 
and  exemplary  lives,  but  the  danger  is  upon  them,  because  they 
are  asleep.  Brother,  out  of  Christ,  give  me  your  ear  for  a 
moment.  That  sleeping  engineer,  that  approaching  danger, 
the  calamity  and  the  result,  are  full  of  meaning.  Who  dare 
refuse  to  heed  the  lesson  ? 

The  very  genius  of  the  gospel  is  set  forth  in  the  light  of  this 
mysterious  Providence.  God's  proclamation  is  based  on  the 
supposition  that  men  have  eyes  to  see  and  see  not,  ears  to  hear 
and  hear  not,  because  their  spiritual  natures  are  asleep.  They 
are  conscious  of  their  danger.  Hence  the  command,  "  Run, 
speak  to  that  young  man."  "  Go  ye  into  all  the  world  and 
preach  the  gospel  to  every  creature." 

The  gospel  must  be  given  to  individuals  by  individuals,  as 
particles  of  leaven  act  upon  particles  of  flour.  The  engineers 
who  are  in  earnest  in  seeking  the  salvation  of  souls  of  those 
near  them,  are  right.  Barzillai  Snow  was  crushed  beneath  the 
iron  wheel  because  no  one  spoke  to  him.  A  word  addressed 
to  him  as  an  individual  would  have  roused  him.  The  slightest 
touch  would  have  caused  him  to  rise.  Christians,  forget  it 
not.  Men  on  every  side  of  us  are  asleep.  Sin  benumbs  their 


216  SAM   HOBART. 

faculties.  Death  is  on  their  track.  To-morrow  may  find 
them  in  eternity.  Speak  to  them  now.  Speak  to  the  ones 
next  to  you. 

Let  us  do  more  than  give  advice  to  others.  Let  us  say  to  all 
who  shall  read  these  words,  This  is  God's  time.  Brother  out 
of  Christ,  you  are  in  peril.  Let  me  rouse  you.  You  need 
Christ.  Death  may  not  come  to  you  as  it  came  to  our  brother. 
Never  do  I  see  one  of  those  flying  engines,  and  think  of  the 
man  who  holds  life  and  property  in  his  skilled  hand,  and  of  the 
dangers  that  environ  him  on  every  side,  but  I  think  such  a 
man  needs  Christ.  How  many  go  into  eternity  on  a  bound. 
The  approaching  train  is  seen,  coming  with  lightning  speed. 
There  is  no  escape  ;  the  coming  and  the  going  train  are  on  the 
same  track.  Meet  they  must.  Hark  !  there  is  a  crash — an 
explosion — death  ;  and  another  soul  stands  before  God.  Are 
you  not  thus  confronting  God  ?  How  can  you  escape  if  you 
neglect  so  great  a  salvation  ?  Now,  my  brother,  in  your  heart 
you  feel  that  you  need  Christ.  You  need  Him  for  what  He 
does  for  you,  and  for  what  He  helps  you  to  do  for  others. 

Think  of  jour  opportunity  to  serve  Christ.  First  with  those 
next  to  you,  and  so  on.  Is  it  not  an  encouraging  fact,  worthy 
of  notice,  that  for  months  a  company  of  railroad  men  have 
been  praying  for  officers  and  men  on  railways  ?  Think  of  it, 
ye  who  are  without  a  hope  in  Jesus  Christ.  Your  names  are 
mentioned  before  the  Mercy-Seat  every  day.  What  excuse 
will  you  have  if  you  go  to  God  unprepared  ?  Think  of  the 
readiness  to  die  a  hope  of  Christ  secures.  When  young  Snow 
beheld  his  situation,  and  he  was  being  carried  to  the  hospital, 
he  talked  of  Christ,  of  his  preparation  and  of  his  readiness  to 
die.  When  his  brother-in-law  and  pastor  visited  him,  he  de- 
clared himself  ready.  The  friends  all  felt  a  Christian  is  on 
his  way  home  to  meet  his  God,  and  those  gone  before.  What 
would  you  not  give,  impenitent  man,  to  be  able  to  pronounce 
those  three  words,  "  /  am  ready  "  ?  What  makes  one  ready  ? 
Simply  the  assurance  that  through  Christ  you  have  been  recon- 
ciled to  God  ;  that  your  sins  have  been  washed  away  in  the 


SAM'S  LOVE  FOR  THE  YOUNG.  217 

blood  of  Christ.  How  can  this  be  secured  ?  Nothing  is  more 
simple.  Ask,  and  it  shall  be  given  ;  seek,  and  ye  shall  find. 
"  Behold,"  says  Christ,  "  I  stand  at  the  door  a.nd  knock. " 
The  bloody  hand  of  the  slain  Christ  is  now  on  the  handle  of 
the  bell.  He  rings.  Answer  it,  and  bid  Him  welcome.  Make 
Him  your  Guest.  Let  Him  in.  Give  Him  room.  Serve 
Him.  Confess  Him  with  your  mouth,  and  believe  in  your 
heart  that  God  hath  raised  Him  from  the  dead,  and  thou  shalt 
be  saved. 

When  I  think  what  religion  has  done  for  the  faithful  engi- 
neer, how  it  lifted  the  workingman  out  of  his  garb,  clothed  him 
with  the  sgotless  robe  of  Christ's  righteousness,  made  him  an 
heir  of  God  and  a  joint  heir  with  Christ,  lifted  him  to  a  place 
above  that  occupied  by  kings  or  millionnaires  if  they  know  not 
Christ,  and  on  a  level  with  them  if  they  do,  saved  him  from 
hell  and  made  him  an  inhabitant  of  heaven — when  I  think  of 
it,  I  am  led  to  wonder  that  any  one  will  forego  this  boon  or 
deny  themselves  this  blessing. 

Finally,  he  was  faithful  to  his  promises.  His  marriage  shows 
it.  He  was  true  to  her  he  loved.  His  life  in  the  church 
shows  it,  as  does  his  life  in  his  closet  and  with  his  comrades. 

It  is  said  of  one  of  the  old  masters  at  work  upon  a  statue 
for  the  niche  of  a  temple  close  against  the  sky,  that  when 
asked  why  he  was  so  particular  about  the  back  part  of  the  head, 
which  must  forever  remain  hidden  from  view,  replied,  God  can 
see  it. 

The  man  that  thus  acts,  conscious  that  he  is  under  the  eye 
of  God,  illustrates  this  gospel  and  permits  its  truths  deep  in 
the  heart  to  blossom  into  action,  will  never  slight  the  task  as- 
signed him,  but  will  walk  in  the  shadow  as  in  the  light,  remem- 
bering that  God  stands  for  those  who  stand  for  Him,  and  that 
the  radiant  crown  is  in  reserve  for  those  whose  life  record  is 
they  did  what  they  could,  and  so  secured  the  welcome  utter- 
ance, "  #000?  and  faithful  ones,  well  done." 

How  proud  Sam  was  that  when  his  leg  was  spouting  blood 
and  they  thought  he  would  die,  a  friend  uncorked  a  flask  of 


218  SAM    HOBAKT. 

brandy  and  asked  him  to  drink  from  it.  He  pushed  it  away, 
saying,  "  No  I  don't  need  it.  I  may  die.  If  I  do  I  want  to 
go  up  to  God  with  a  clear  brain  as  well  as  with  a  believing 
heart."  He  died  with  a  clear  brain.  Railroad  men  printed 
this  record  of  him,  and  made  lamentation  over  him. 


CHAPTER  XVII. 

THE  COURAGE    OF  SAM    HOBART,    AND  OF    LOCOMOTIVE    ENGINEERS 

AS     A     CLASS JOSEPH     A.  .   SEEDS,      OF      THE      PENNSYLVANIA 

CENTRAL  J    JOHN    MARROT,     OF    ENGLAND,     AND    OTHERS. 

"  How  near  could  you  drive  to  that  precipice  ?"  asked  a 
Scotchman  of  three  men,  one  of  whom  he  thought  of  hiring  as 
a  driver  of  the  family  carriage. 

One  said,  "  Within  a  foot."  The  other,  "  Within  a  foot 
and  a  half."  The  third  one  said,  l<  Well,  sir,  I  should  keep 
as  far  away  as  I  could." 

4i  Well,  my  man,  I  will  take  you." 

Sam   Hobart   was  courageous.      No    man   can   climb  to  the 

o 

position  he  attained  as  the  safest  and  the  most  skilful  engineer 
of  the  road  without  courage.  But  he  kept  away  as  far  as  pos- 
sible from  the  brink  of  the  precipice  all  his  life.  Not  that  he 
never  ran  risks.  Every  engineer  runs  them.  Not  that  he 
never  escaped  peril  by  almost  superhuman  exertion  and  by  a 
quickness  of  thought  and  steadiness  of  nerve  that  excited 
applause  at  the  time  and  the  bare  recital  of  which  now  thrills  the 
soul  with  inexpressible  emotions.  Time  would  fail  to  recount 
how  on  one  occasion  a  collision  was  avoided  that  seemed  immi- 
nent. How  on  another  day  he  kept  out  of  the  way  of  an 
engineer  excited  with  passion  who  tried  to  place  him  at  a  dis- 
advantage. We  could  follow  him  into  a  storm  that  blocks  the 
path  of  the  locomotive.  On  one  such  night  the  New  York 
train  was  three  hours  late  at  Worcester.  A  driving  gale  full 
of  snow  and  sleet  was  coming  in  from  the  ocean.  Sam  had  to 
face  it.  He  draws  out  his  locomotive  after  spending  some 
'ime  with  God  in  prayer. 


220  SAM   HOBART. 

"  A  bad  night,  Sam,"  shouts  the  switchman. 

"  Can't  well  be  worse,  my  boy  ;  but  we  must  go  through  if 
we  can,"  said  Sam,  as  cheerily  as  if  he  were  on  his  way  to  his 
home. 

They  start.  It  is  pitch  dark.  Out  into  the  night  rolls  the 
thundering  train.  Every  one  wonders  if  they  will  get  through. 
The  conductor  is  besieged  by  questions. 

"  Who  is  on  the  locomotive,  conductor  1"  asks  a  merchant 
prince,  belated  and  very  anxious  to  get  through. 

"  Sam  Hobart,"  was  the  reply. 

"  Then  we'll  go  through  if  it  is  possible." 

"  Yes,  if  it  is  possible  ;  but  it  is  a  wild  night." 

And  a  wild  night  it  was.  I  was  on  the  train.  We  had  gone 
but  a  few  miles  when  the  whistle  sounded  and  all  knew  that 
dangers  were  about  us.  The  train  stopped.  Soon  we  learned 
that  there  had  been  a  smash-up.  The  train  before  us  was 
broken  up  by  a  train  that  followed,  and  we  were  in  the  midst 
of  the  debris.  Out  into  the  night  many  went.  Beyond  was 
Sain  with  his  lantern,  giving  advice  and  breathing  good  cheer 
into  the  ears  of  those  not  as  wise  or  brave  as  himself.  In  due 
time  the  track  was  cleared,  and  we  went  on.  The  man  at  the 
throttle-valve,  wet  through  to  the  skin,  his  eye  at  the  look-out, 
and  we,  way  on  in  the  night,  rode  into  the  depot  at  Boston 
sleepy  and  disappointed,  while  Sam  was  tired  and  faint.  Bid- 
ding him  good-night,  never  can  I  forget  the  expression  of  grat- 
itude to  the  great  Giver  of  every  blessing  for  the  deliverance. 
With  Sam  it  was  not  luck  or  chance  that  brought  him  through, 
but  God.  It  may  be  that  such  courage  as  was  that  night  dis- 
played may  not  parallel  the  act  of  Garfield  when  he  grasped 
the  wheel  of  the  steamer  and  gave  orders  to  cut  loose  that  she 
might  defy  the  terrific  current  of  the  Tennessee  in  carrying 
food  to  the  beleaguered  garrison,  but  the  same  kind  of  metal 
was  necessary  in  the  engineer  and  the  general. 

4 '  It  may  be  a  weakness, ' '  said  President  Tuttle,  of  Wabash 
College,  "  yet  I  confess  to  a  high  admiration  of  a  class  of  men 
to  whom  a  vast  burden  of  responsibility  in  the  matter  of 


THE   COURAGE   OF   SAM   HOBART.  221 

human  life  is  constantly  intrusted  ;  I  refer  to  our  railroad 
engineers.  The  locomotive  in  itself  is  a  marvel  of  ingenuity 
and  power.  Compact,  perfect  in  form  and  adaptation,  indis- 
pensable to  the  wants  of  civilization,  it  is  one  of  the  finest  in- 
struments. The  man  who  controls  these  thirty  tons  of  organ- 
ized iron,  which  we  call  a  locomotive,  must  secure  both  self- 
respect  and  self-confidence.  I  have  sometimes  stood  beside 
the  track  when  a  train  has  come  flying  along  and  have  observed 
with  boundless  admiration  the  man  on  whose  vigilance,  skill 
and  pluck  the  safety  of  that  train  so  largely  depended.  His 
left  hand  on  the  lever,  his  right  on  the  reversing  lever — if  that 
fce  its  name — his  body  bent  forward  eagerly,  and  his  eye 
keenly  scrutinizing  the  track  ahead  lest  the  tremendous  mo- 
mentum of  his  train,  meeting  with  some  obstacle,  should  dash 
itself  in  an  instant  into  a  horrible  wreck.  How,  now,  can  a 
man  be  weighed  down  with  such  a  responsibility  and  not  be  a 
stronger  and  more  self-reliant  man  ? 

"  Some  of  the  most  remarkable  exhibitions  of  courage  have 
been  made  by  men  of  this  class.  A  few  years  ago,  Osborne, 
an  engineer  on  the  Morris  and  Essex  Railroad  for  twenty  years 
at  least,  was  once  delayed  by  snow  on  the  track  for  several 
hours  ;  but  received  explicit  orders  from  the  superintendent 
'  to  go  ahead,'  for  the  road  was  clear,  no  other  train  was  on 
the  track.  After  satisfying  himself  that  he  had  not  misunder- 
stood the  order,  he  left  the  summit  on  a  steep  down  grade,  and 
in  rounding  a  sharp  curve  came  on  a  train  that  was  ascending 
the  same  grade  under  full  head  of  steam.  In  an  instant  he 
whistled  down  the  brakes  and  reversed  his  engine.  The  noble 
thing  under  such  a  tremendous  strain  as  if  fully  aware  of  the 
danger,  obeyed  and  threw  itself  back  to  avert  the  catastrophe. 
Meanwhile  the  other  engineer  had  done  the  same  thing  with  his 
locomotive  ;  but  it  was  possible  only  to  modify  the  shock. 
Together  rushed  those  two  panting  and  reluctant  giants,  their 
joint  weight  not  less  than  sixty  tons,  with  the  gathered  mo- 
mentum of  their  following  trains.  They  rose  like  two  furious 
animals  in  fight,  standing  on  end  and  in  a  trice  the  two  splen- 


222  SAM   HOBART. 

did  machines  were  in  ruins.  The  cars  behind  them  were  also 
badly  crushed.  Osborne  did  not  leap  from  his  engine  ;  but 
never  moving  his  hands  from  the  lever  which  controlled  it,  he 
stood  as  resolute  as  a  rock  at  his  post  until  the  shock  came  and 
then  quick  as  thought  adjusted  his  valves  to  allow  the  steam  to 
escape  without  explosion.  Man  can  furnish  no  clearer  proof 
of  the  finest  courage.  Daring  the  war  an  incident  occurred  on 
the  Pennsylvania  Central.  A  regiment  of  soldiers  was  on  a 
train,  stopped  by  a  freight-train  off  the  track.  It  was  in  the 
night,  and  most  of  the  thousand  men  were  asleep.  Four 
heavily  loaded  coal  cars  belonging  to  a  train  ahead  had  by  acci- 
dent become  detached  and  had  begun  the  descent  from  the  sum  - 
in  it  toward  Johnstown.  The  engineer  heard  the  roar  of  the  de- 
scending cars  and,  surmising  what  was  the  matter,  put  on  steam 
to  meet  the  approaching  line,  if  possible,  to  break  its  force  and 
save  the  train.  His  locomotive  was  a  large  freight,  and  he  had 
moved  several  rods  ahead  when  the  cars  struck  him  like  a 
thunderbolt  and  crushed  his  engine  back  on  the  train  ;  but  his 
heroic  courage  had  saved  many  lives.  The  man's  name  was 
Strong,  and  his  grateful  beneficiaries  presented  him  some  ele- 
gant silver  plate,  with  the  deed  itself  and  their  names  engraved 
on  the  pieces.  When  asked  why  he  did  not  abandon  his  train, 
he  replied,  "  Quick  as  lightning  I  thought  I  had  better  die  than 
to  have  those  runaway  cars  cut  clean  through  the  train  destroy- 
ing hundreds. ' '  It  was  an  heroic  answer. 

On  the  Marietta  and  Cincinnati  Railroad  formerly  were  a 
number  of  trestle  bridges.  The  funds  were  low.  The  men 
were  not  paid.  A  train  with  the  directors  on  board  was  going 
over  it.  A  miscreant  determined  to  throw  it  off  and  kill  them 
all.  The  engineer  discovered  the  obstruction.  He  seemed  to 
know  instinctively  that  the  momentum  was  too  great  to  save  the 
whole  train,  and  he  signalled  the  brakes  down  and  reversed  the 
engine — to  stop,  if  possible,  the  cars  before  reaching  the  chasm. 
Then  opening  the  throttle-valve  his  engine  sprang  forward  so 
violently  as  to  break  the  connection  with  the  train,  and  dashed 
to  the  awful  leap.  The  bold  man  as  this  was  going  on  ran 


THE  COURAGE  OF  SAM  HOBART.          223 

out  of  his  window  on  the  engine  and  opened  the  escape-valve. 
While  standing  there  the  engine  went  over  with  him  and,  mar- 
vellous to  relate,  he,  falling  under  the  huge  weight,  was  pre- 
served from  being  crushed  by  the  engine-bell  at  his  side.  The 
train  for  the  rescue  of  which  he  had  exhibited  such  incredible 
pluck,  stopped  just  soon  enough  to  escape  the  horrible  leap 
after  the  engine. 

That  the  roll-call  of  heroes  is  constantly  filling  up  was  proved 
on  Sunday,  October  22d,  1882,  as  a  train  composed  of  ten  pas- 
senger cars  containing  over  six  hundred  persons  passed  through 
Bergen  Cut  on  the  Pennsylvania  Central  at  the  rate  of  thirty 
miles  an  hour,  "ffirel  FIRE  !"  was  shouted  by  conductor 
and  passengers  as  a  volume  of  smoke  and  fire  suddenly  burst 
through  the  open  door  of  the  smoking-car  next  to  the  tender. 
Great  consternation  instantly  prevailed  among  the  passengers  of 
the  crowded  car.  Their  alarm  became  a  panic  when  the  fire- 
man came  clambering  over,  the  tender  into  the  car  and  it  was 
found  that  the  train  was  dashing  wildly  on  with  the  engine 
pouring  forth  flames  which,  if  not  promptly  checked,  must 
speedily  involve  all  the  cars  in  destruction.  The  speed  of  the 
train  made  it  hopeless  to  think  of  escape  by  leaping  off,  and 
the  passengers  began  to  contemplate  the  possibility  of  death  in 
one  of  the  most  horrible  forms  which  the  imagination  could 
possibly  conceive. 

16  Shut  the  door  !  Shut  the  door  !"  was  shouted.  The 
door  was  closed,  but  almost  immediately  it  flew  open  again, 
and  the  engineer  and  the  fireman  emerged  from  the  fire  and 
smoke  and  stumbled  into  the  car.  The  train  dashed  on  with 
no  one  to  govern  the  engine.  Men  rushed  to  the  rear  platform 
and  there  met  a  frightened  crowd  from  the  next  car.  Others 
raised  windows  only  to  realize  at  what  speed  the  train  was 
going,  and  to  know  that  to  jump  out  would  be  death.  "  Get 
to  that  closet,"  shouted  Engineer  Joseph  A.  Seeds  to  the  fire- 
man, pointing  to  the  rear  of  the  car,  "  and  work  the  air 
brakes."  But  the  passage  was  blocked  with  passengers  and 
the  fireman  found  it  impossible  to  make  headway. 


224:  SAM    HOBART. 

"  What  is  going  to  be  done  ?"  asked  one,  of  the  engineer. 

Seeds  made  no  reply.  There  was  no  time  to  talk.  Action 
was  now  the  imperative  necessity.  See  him.  He  is  well.  He 
is  in  the  prime  of  life.  In  face  and  form  he  has  a  comely  ap- 
pearance. All  is  forgotten.  The  lives  of  six  hundred  pas- 
sengers are  in  his  hands.  He  must  dare  death  that  they  may 
have  life.  He  does  not  hesitate,  but  plunging  into  the  seething 
sea  of  fire  he  climbs  upon  the  tender  and  disappears.  The 
flames  originated  from  the  "  blow  back  "  on  the  engine,  forcing 
the  flames  out  of  the  furnace  when  the  door  was  opened. 
Seeds  must  go  through  the  flames  to  reach  the  air-brake  and 
the  throttle-valve.  He  went  through.  He  reached  the  throttle- 
valve  and  with  burning  hand  pulled  the  "  air-brake"  and  re- 
versed the  engine.  He  knew  that,  whatever  came  to  him,  the 
train  would  stop  and  its  precious  load  be  saved.  Nearly  a 
minute  passed  and  then  the  train  came  to  a  stop  on  the  bridge 
over  the  Hackensack  River,  and  all  knew  that  the  brave  man  had 
put  on  the  "  air  brake"  and  reversed  the  engine.  This  done, 
he  tried  to  save  himself  ;  ran  back  to  the  tender,  lifted  the 
lid  off  the  water-tank,  and  leaped  in. 

In  the  mean  time  the  peril  was  past.  The  passengers,  wild 
with  delight,  began  to  wonder  what  had  befallen  the  engineer. 
Rushing  forward  to  the  engine  they  found  that  the  cab  was  still 
enveloped  in  flames,  while  the  head  and  shoulders  of  a  man 
appeared  above  the  water-tank  on  the  tender.  Up  they  sprang 
to  drag  him  out.  They  found  him  weak  and  half  unconscious. 
His  clothes  were  completely  burned  from  him.  His  face  was 
disfigured  and  his  hands  were  shockingly  burned.  His  body 
was  .blistered  so  badly  that  some  of  the  flesh  stripped  off  in 
moving  him.  Tenderly  they  cared  for  him.  To  the  Jersey 
City  Hospital  they  bore  him,  and  there  he  died  four  days  after- 
ward. No  wonder  that  little  children  and  mothers  and  friends 
have  united  in  contributing  money  to  create  a  fund  for  his 
family  in  Philadelphia.  Such  heroism  deserves  to  be  rewarded. 

Seeds' s  deed  recalled  another  notable  act. 

It  was  in  Scotland  that  this  memorable  achievement  took 


THE   COURAGE   OF   SAM    HOBART.  225 

place.  A  drunken  engineer  started  his  engine  on  the  wrong 
track,  and  exposed  hundreds  of  people  to  sudden  death.  An- 
other engineer,  Campbell,  boarded  a  locomotive  on  the  parallel 
track  in  pursuit.  Both  throttles  were  wide  open  ;  the  fated 
train  flew  to  disaster  at  the  rate  of  sixty  miles  an  hour  ;  the 
pursuing  engine  followed  faster.  Fifteen  miles  down  the  road 
the  engine  caught  up  with  the  first  one  ;  heedless  men  were 
sitting  in  their  carriages  reading  their  papers  as  the  engine 
slowly  gained  on  the  object  of  its  pursuit.  Then,  when 
the  two  were  abreast,  Campbell  leaped  across  tracks,  from  his 
own  to  the  other,  staggered,  held  on,  reversed  the  machinery, 
flung  the  drowsy  drunkard  to  the  track  ;  and  then  the  Scotch 
express,  coining  the  other  way,  struck  his  engine  and  nearly  three 
hundred  lives  were  sacrificed.  The  drunken  engineer  was  not 
killed.  Campbell  was  smashed  to  a  jelly  in  the  performance  of 
one  of  the  most  extraordinary  feats  in  the  history  of  the  human 
race. 

Seeds's  name  deserves  to  be  perpetually  coupled  with  that  of 
the  gallant  Scot  whose  sacrifice  was  too  late  to  save  any  other 
life  than  that  of  the  worthless  cause  of  the  accident.  Reading 
of  such  deeds  of  heroism  performed  by  humble  men,  can  one 
for  a  moment  beliove  that  the  age  of  chivalry  has  gone  by  ? 

And  now  that  we  are  on  this  subject  let  us  transfer  a  word- 
picture  of  Ballantyne  from  "  Life  on  the  Rail,"  which  was 
equally  daring  and  yet  unattended  by  such  terrible  disasters. 

In  the  book  referred  to,*  the  story  is  told  of  a  lunatic  leaping 
on  a  locomotive  all  fired  up  and  ready  to  be  coupled  to  the 
train.  He  felled  the  driver,  who  was  outside  the  rail  oiling 
some  of  the  machinery,  seized  the  handle  of  the  regulator,  and 
turned  on  full  steam.  The  driving-wheels  revolved  at  first 
with  such  tremendous  rapidity  that  they  failed  to  '*  bite,  "  and 
merely  slipped  on  the  rails.  The  madman  was  engineer 
enough  to  understand  why,  and  at  once  cut  off  part  of  the 


*  "  The  Iron  Horse  ;  or,  Life  on  the  Bail."     By  B.  M.  Ballantyne, 
.  325. 


226  SAM    HOBAKT. 

steam.  Next  moment  he  shot  out  of  the  station,  and  again 
letting  on  full  head  of  steam  rushed  along  the  line  like  an 
arrow.  It  chanced  that  the  passenger  superintcTident  was  on 
the  platform  at  the  time.  That  gentleman  had  everything  con- 
nected with  the  traffic  by  heart.  He  saw  that  the  points  had 
been  so  set  as  to  turn  the  runaway  engine  on  to  the  down  line, 
and  in  his  mind's  eye  saw  a  monster  excursion  train,  which 
had  started  just  a  few  minutes  before,  laboring  slowly  forward, 
which  the  light  engine  would  soon  overtake.  A  collision  in  a 
few  minutes  would  be  certain.  In  peculiar  circumstances  men 
are  bound  to  break  through  all  rules  and  regulations  and  act  in 
a  peculiar  way.  Without  a  moment's  hesitation  he  ran  to 
John  Marrot  and  said,  in  an  earnest,  hurried  voice,  "  Give 
chase,  John  !  Cross  over  to  the  up  line,  but  don't  go  too  far." 

"  All  right,  sir,"   said  John,  laying  his  hand  on  the  regu- 
lator. 

Even  while  the  superintendent  was  speaking,  Will  Gar- 
vie's  swift  mind  had  appreciated  the  idea.  He  had  leaped 
down  and  uncoupled  ''''The  Lightning"  from  its  train.  John 
touched  the  whistle,  let  on  steam,  and  off  they  went,  crossed 
to  the  up  line  (which  was  the  wrong  line  of  rails  for  any  engine 
to  run  in  that  direction),  and  away  he  went  at  forty — fifty — 
seventy  miles  an  hour  !  John  knew  well  that  he  was  flying 
toward  a  passenger  train,  which  was  running  toward  him  at 
probably  thirty-five  or  forty  miles  an  hour.  He  was  aware  of 
its  whereabouts  at  that  time,  for  he  consulted  his  watch  and 
had  the  time-table  by  heart.  A  collision  with  it  would  involve ' 
the  accumulated  momentum  of  more  than  a  hundred  miles  an 
hour.  The  time  was  short,  but  it  was  sufficient  ;  he  therefore 
urged  Will  to  coal  the  furnace  until  it  glowed  with  fervent  heat, 
and  opened  the  steam-valve  to  the  uttermost.  Never  since 
John  Marrot  had  driven  it  had  the  Lightning  so  nearly  resem- 
bled its  namesake.  The  pace  was  increased  to  seventy-five  and 
eighty  miles  an  hour.  It  was  awful.  Objects  flew  past  with 
flashing  speed.  The  clatter  of  the  engine  was  deafening.  A 
stern  chase  is  proverbially  a  long  one  ;  but  in  this  case,  at  such 


THE   COURAGE   OF   SAM   HOBART.  227 

a  speed,  it  was  short.  In  less  than  fifteen  minutes  John  came 
in  view  of  the  fugitive,  also  going  at  full  speed,  but,  not  being 
so  powerful  an  engine,  and  not  being  properly  managed  as  to 
the  fire,  it  did  not  go  so  fast  ;  its  force  might  have  been  forty 
or  forty-five  miles  an  hour. 

"  Will,"  shouted  John,  in  the  ear  of  his  stalwart  fireman, 
"  you'll  have  to  be  sharp  about  it.  It  won't  do,  lad,  to  jump 
into  the  arms  of  a  madman  with  a  fire  shovel  in  his  hand. 
When  I  takes  a  shot  at  'im  with  a  lump  of  coal,  then's  yer 
chance — go  in  an'  win,  lad — and  whatever  you  do,  keep  cool." 

Will  did  not  open  his  compressed  lips,  but  nodded  his  head 
in  reply. 

*'  You'll  have  to  do  it  all  alone,  Bill  ;  I  can't  leave  the 
engine,"  shouted  John. 

He  looked  anxiously  into  his  mate's  face,  and  felt  relieved  to 
observe  a  little  smile  curl  slightly  the  corners  of  his  mouth. 

Another  moment  and  the  Lightning  was  up  with  the 
tender  of  the  runaway,  and  John  cut  off  steam  for  a  brief 
space  to  equalize  the  speed.  The  madman  at  that  instant  ob- 
served for  the  first  time  that  he  was  pursued.  He  looked  back 
with  a  horrible  glare,  and  then,  uttering  a  fierce  cheer  or  yell, 
tugged  at  the  steam  handle  to  increase  the  speed,  but  it  was 
open  to  the  utmost.  He  attempted  to  heap  coals  on  the  fire, 
but,  being  inexpert,  failed  to  increase  the  heat.  Another  sec- 
ond and  they  were  abreast.  John  Marrot  opened  the  whistle 
and  let  it  blow  continuously,  for  he  was  by  that  time  drawing 
fearfully  near  to  the  train  that  he  knew  was  approaching.  See- 
ing that  escape  was  impossible,  the  madman  would  have  thrown 
the  engine  off  the  rails,  if  that  had  been  possible  ;  but  as  it  was 
not,  he  brandished  the  fire  shovel  and  stood  at  the  opening  be- 
tween the  engine  and  the  tender  with  an  expression  of  fiendish 
rage  on  his  countenance  that  words  cannot  describe. 

"  Now,  Bill,  look  out  !"  said  John. 

Will  stood  like  a  tiger  ready  to  spring.  John  beside  him 
with  a  huge  mass  of  coal  in  one  hand  concealed  behind  his 
back.  There  was  a  space  of  little  more  than  two  feet  between 


228.  SAM    HOB  ART. 

the  engines.     To   leap   that  in  the  face  of  a  madman  seemed 
impossible. 

Suddenly  John  Marrot  hurled  the  mass  of  coal  with  all  his 
might.  His  aim  was  to  hit  Thomson  on  the  head,  but  it 
struck  low,  hitting  him  on  the  chest  and  driving  him  down  on 
the  foot-plate.  At  the  same  instant  Will  Game  bounded 
across  and  shut  off  the  steam  in  an  instant.  He  turned  then  to 
the  brake  wheel,  but  before  he  could  apply  it  the  madman  had 
risen  and  grappled  with  him.  Still,  as  the  two  strong  men 
swayed  to  and  fro  in  a  deadly  conflict,  Will's  hand,  that 
chanced  at  the  moment  to  be  nearest  the  brake-wheel,  was  seen 
ever  and  anon  to  give  it  a  slight  turn.  This  much  John  Marrot 
observed  when  he  saw  a  puff  of  white  steam  on  the  horizon  far 
ahead  of  him.  To  reverse  the  engine  and  turn  full  steam  on 
was  the  work  of  two  seconds.  Fire  flew  in  showers  from  the 
wheels,  and  the  engine  trembled  with  the  violent  friction. 
Nevertheless,  it  still  ran  on  for  a  considerable  way,  and  the  ap- 
proaching train  was  within  a  comparatively  short  distance  of 
him,  before  he  had  got  the  Lightning  to  run  backward.  It 
was  not  until  he  got  up  speed  to  nigh  forty  miles  an  hour  that 
he  felt  safe,  looked  back  with  a  grim  smile,  and  breathed 
freely. 

Of  course  the  driver  of  the  passenger  train,  seeing  an  engine 
on  the  wrong  line  ahead  had  also  reversed  at  full  speed  and 
thus  prevented  a  collision,  which  would  inevitably  have  been 
very  disastrous. 

John  now  ran  back  to  the  crossing,  and  getting  once  more 
on  the  down  line  again  reversed  his  engine  and  ran  cautiously 
back  in  the  direction  of  the  runaway  locomotive.  He  soon 
came  in  sight  of  it,  and  reversed  again  and  went  at  such  a  pace 
as  allowed  it  to  overtake  him  gradually.  He  saw  that  the 
steam  was  still  cut  off  and  that  it  had  advanced  that  length  in 
consequence  of  being  on  an  incline,  but  was  somewhat  alarmed 
to  receive  no  signal  from  his  mate.  The  moment  the  buffers 
of  the  Lightning  touched  those  of  the  other  engine's  tender, 
he  applied  the  brakes  and  brought  both  engines  to  a  stand. 


THE   COURAGE   OF   SAM   HOBART.  229 

Then  leaping  off  he  ran  to  see  how  it  had  fared  with  Will 
Garvie. 

The  scene  that  met  his  eyes  was  a  very  ghastly  one.  On 
the  floor-plate  lay  the  two  men,  insensible  and  covered  with 
blood  and  coal  dust.  Each  grasped  the  other  by  the  throat, 
but  Will  had  gained  an  advantage  from  having  no  neckcloth  on, 
while  his  own  strong  hand  was  twisted  into  that  of  his  adversary 
so  firmly  that  the  madman's  eyes  were  almost  starting  out  of 
their  sockets.  John  Marrot  at  once  cut  the  kerchief  with  his 
clasp-knife  ;  and  then  feeling  that  there  was  urgent  need  for 
haste  left  them  lying  there,  ran  back  to  his  own  engine, 
coupled  it  to  the  other,  turned  on  full  steam,  and  in  a  short 
space  of  time  was  back  to  his  station.  Here  the  men  were 
removed  to  the  waiting-room  and  a  doctor  was  called  in.  It 
was  found  that  although  much  bruised  and  cut,  as  well  as  ex- 
hausted by  their  conflict,  neither  was  seriously  injured.  After 
a  few  restoratives  had  been  applied  one  was  conveyed  to  his 
home  and  the  other  was  lodged  in  an  asylum. 

The  presence  of  mind  of  the  superintendent,  the  alertness  of 
John  Marrot,  the  bravery  of  Will  Garvie,  bring  out  into  bold 
relief  the  qualifications  which  fit  men  for  the  responsibilities  of 
the  railway,  and  bring  forcibly  before  us  the  perils  that  sleep 
and  may  be  wakened  any  moment  on  any  road. 

The  story  of  the  help  found  in  God's  Word  is  beautifully 
illustrated  by  this  incident. 

Said  a  Bible-reading  railroad  engineer  : 

"  I  have  never  met  with  an  accident  that  was  attended  with 
serious  results,  thank  God,"  he  replied,  not  in  the  brawling 
tone  of  an  oath,  but  reverently,  "  and  I  think  that  one  reason 
of  it  comes  from  the  fact  that  I  always  carry  my  Bible  in  the 
cab.  Do  you  see  it  up  there  ?"  and  he  pointed  up  to  the 
prettily  upholstered  cab  where,  just  in  front  of  the  engineer's 
seat,  between  the  steam-gauge  and  the  lookout  window,  on  a 
bracket-like  device,  a  small  Bible  was  held  open  where  the  eyes 
of  this  Christian  engineer  could  fall  upon  its  pages  at  any  mo- 
ment. 


230  SAM   HOBART. 

"  I  have  read  the  good  book  from  back  to  back  several 
times  at  home, M  continued  he,  "  and  by  having  it  placed  here 
in  this  manner  before  me  I  have  been  able  to  commit  many 
passages  to  memory.  Sometimes  it  has  been  a  wonderful  com- 
fort to  me  ;  one  time  in  particular,  the  strength  as  well  as 
comfort  I  derived  from  one  glance  at  a  passage  on  the  open 
page  was  astonishing. " 

"  How  was  that  ?"  I  asked,  greatly  interested. 

il  You  see  I  was  running  on  the  lower  end  of  the  road  at  the 
time,  and  my  train  was  an  '  express  passenger/  which  came 
out  of  the  city  before  nightfall,  usually  with  a  dozen  or  so 
heavily  laden  coaches.  Perhaps  you  remember,  if  you  have 

been  over  the  road  so  much,  where  the  track  crosses  the 

River,  which,  you  know,  is  the  inlet  to  the  harbor.  Being  a 
port  of  considerable  importance,  of  course  provision  has  to  be 
made  for  the  shipping  to  pass  above. 

"  There  was  a  man  stationed  at  this  post  to  signal  to  the  ap- 
proaching trains  whether  the  bridge  was  open  or  not.  Yes,  it 
was  a  dangerous  place  (the  means  to  avert  danger  there  are 
better  now),  but  after  I  had  run  over  the  bridge  twice  a  day 
for  eighteen  months  or  more,  and  had  always  found  everything 
all  right,  I  came  to  look  upon  that  point  the  same  as  I  did 
upon  any  other  piece  of  the  road. 

"  My  express  was  a  fast  train  always,  and  on  the  night  of 
which  I  am  speaking  I  was  a  little  behind  time,  and  so  running 
even  somewhat  faster  than  usual  in  order  to  make  up.  As  I 
approached  the  bridge  I  looked  for  the  signal,  as  it  was  second 
nature  for  me  to  do.  The  flagman  gave  the  customary  all-right 
signal,  standing  as  usual  on  a  rock  at  the  point  of  a  curve  of 
the  track  leading  around  to  the  river. 

"  I  had  no  more  time  than  barely  to  notice  that  the  man  was 
a  new  hand,  in  place  of  *  Lame  Jim,7  whom  I  had  without  a 
single  exception  always  found  at  that  post,  before  we  came  in 
full  view  of  the  bridge.  To  my  horror  it  was  wide  open,  and 
a  gulf  of  nearly  fifty  feet  in  depth  was  yawning  before  ine  and 
my  ponderous  train. 


THE  COURAGE  OF  SAM  HOBART.          231 

"  I  glanced  up  to  my  open  Bible  and  my  eyes  fell  upon  the 
word,  i  I  will  never  leave  thee,  nor  forsake  tbee. '  The  be- 
numbing sense  of  utter  helplessness  that  for  the  instant  had 
pervaded  both  soul  and  body,  as  it  were,  all  vanished  now, 
and  I  became  as  calm  as  you  see  me  at  tbis  moment. 

"  You  know,  madam,  that  the  duties  of  a  locomotive 
engineer  are  such  that  oftentimes  he  has  to  decide  (it  may  be 
only  on  a  mere  movement  of  his  hand,  or  the  kind  of  a  look 
he  gives  his  fireman)  in  such  a  terrible  exigency,  especially  in 
the  shortest  conceivable  space  of  time.  In  this  instance  I  had 
no  time  to  consider,  and  if  I  had,  I  suppose  I  should  have 
done  exactly  as  I  did,  whistle  for  brakes  (it  was  before  air 
brakes  came  into  use)  and  reverse  my  engine. 

"  The  fireman  did  not  need  to  be  told  to  do  his  best  upon 
the  tender  brakes,  as  he  rapidly  tightened  them  up  with  the 
whole  swinging  force  of  his  large  body.  It  was  a  clean,  dry 
track,  everything  in  good  condition,  and  I  think  never  a  train, 
with  like  facilities,  was  brought  to  a  standstill  on  shorter 
notice.  For  that  first,  almost  bewildering  instant  to  me,  the 
belief  in  the  possibility  of  escaping  that  imminent,  fearful 
plunge,  so  possessed  me  with  a  cold  feeling  like  the  coils  of  a 
snake  down  my  back,  that  it  was  with  an  almost  superhuman 
effort  that  I  mustered  muscular  force  to  raise  my  hand  to  the 
whistle-valve  cord,  reach  the  regulator,  or  grasp  the  reversing 
handle. 

"  But  we  came  to  a  dead  halt  just  as  the  point  of  the  cow- 
catcher overlapped  the  frightful  chasm  !  Had  the  impelling 
force  of  that  long  passenger  train  carried  us  a  few  feet  farther 
on,  there  would  .have  been  the  worst  railroad  catastrophe  that 
ever  happened  in  America,  and  my  name  would  surely  have 
swelled  the  list  of  the  drowned  and  mangled  ones  that  would 
have  appeared  in  the  newspapers. 

44  As  it  was,  the  escape  never  got  into  the  papers  at  all. 
The  bridge  was  swung  into  place  so  quickly,  and  we  were 
under  way  again  so  soon  after  the  customary  stop  at  the  draw, 
that  I  suppose  that  very  few  of  the  passengers  ever  knew  of  the 


232  SAM   HOBART. 

threatened  peril.  We  were  miles  away  before  the  reaction 
came  to  me  as  I  sat  trembling  on  my  seat  with  the  full,  appre- 
hending sense  of  our  escape  tiding  through  my  brain. 

"  The  flagman  ?  oh,  yes,  he  was  drunk.  You  see  there  had 
been  a  new  superintendent  chosen,  and  he  had  commenced 
business  by  turning  off  some  of  the  old  employes  and  putting 
in  new  ones.  Poor,  faithful  *  Lame  Jim  '  had  been  discharged, 
and  this  fellow  installed  in  his  place.  He  was  celebrating  his 
appointment  to  this  responsible  post  over  a  jug  of  rum  which 
was  found  afterward  in  the  little  signal  house  near  by. 

"  Jirn  was  reinstated  next  day,  but  the  company  was  so  cha- 
grined over  the  unwarrantable  action  on  the  part  of  the  super- 
intendent that  the  matter  was  kept  as  close  as  possible.  I 
went  to  the  office  the  next  morning  and  resigned  my  position  ; 
I  couldn't  bear  to  run  over  that  end  of  the  road  again.  They 
would  not  let  me  off  the  road,  but  gave  me  this  train  on  this 
end  of  the  route. 

"  No,  I  don't  suppose  I  have  quite  got  over  the  shock  to  my 
nerves,  for  frequently,  when  I  go  to  bed  more  tired  than  usual, 
I  wake  with  a  start  from  a  sort  of  far-off  dream  of  that  event- 
ful nightfall  trip,  the  uncertain  light,  the  still  shimmering  water 
and  the  white,  scared  face  of  my  fireman.  My  hair  was  as 
black  as  coal  then  ;  in  three  months  it  became  as  gray  as  you 
eee  it." 

We  glorify  our  heroes  of  the  battle-field  and  the  sea,  we  stand 
all  agog  if  some  foolish  man  or  more  foolish  woman  as- 
cend Mont  Blanc  just  for  the  name  of  the  feat.  We  talk 
about  Alexander  and  Bucephalus,  about  Caesar  in  the  boat  when 
the  tempest  threatened  him  !  Why  may  we  not  glorify  the 
heroes  of  the  locomotive  engine,  who  exhibit  as  noble  and 
praiseworthy  a  daring  as  any  heroes  in  other  fields  ?  And 
they  do  this  in  the  constant  service  of  the  thousands  of  fami- 
lies who  every  hour  of  the  twenty -four  are  represented  on  the 
railways. 

Somewhere  there  is  a  terrific  storm  raging  at  this  moment. 
Swollen  streams  endanger  the  safety  of  bridges  and  the  lives  of 


THE  COURAGE   OF  SAM   HOBART.  233 

passengers  every  hour  of  the  twenty-four.  At  the  front,  in  the 
darkness  and  in  the  light,  is  the  brave  engineer  doing  his  work 
as  best  he  may,  glad  of  an  appreciative  word  from  employer  or 
of  a  recognition  from  those  he  has  so  bravely  served.  Such  a 
man  was  Sam  Hobart.  Such  men  now  live  and  serve. 


CHAPTER   XVIII. 

SAM'S    LAST    RIDE — THE    ENGINEER    AT    REST. 

IN  March,  1874,  Sam  Hobart  took  his  last  ride.  It  was  a 
fearful  Saturday  night.  The  storm  of  sleet  and  rain  was  on 
the  land.  Sam  came  into  the  Boston  Depot  wet  through.  He 
went  home  tired  and  almost  sick.  He  rose  on  Sabbath  morn- 
ing and  went  to  church.  In  the  afternoon  the  pain  in  his 
limbs  increased.  Monday  morning  he  could  not  rise.  He 
had  lost  forever  the  use  of  one  limb.  "  Well,'7  in  as  cheerful 
a  tone  as  possible,  he  said,  "  let  us  thank  God  for  the  leg  that 
is  left."  Soon  that  was  attacked.  He  thanked  God  for  his 
hands.  Then  he  lost  the  use  of  them,  and  thanked  God  for  a 
clear  brain.  On  Wednesday  he  was  better.  On  Thursday 
morning  he  had  his  breakfast  brought  to  him  for  the  last  time. 
It  was  placed  in  a  chair  before  him.  He  folded  his  hands  like 
a  little  child,  asked  God's  blessing  on  it,  and  prayed  that  he 
might  be  kept  from  harm,  from  wandering  thoughts  ;  and  in 
the  love  of  God  ate  his  food.  The  story  of  his  sickness 
had  got  abroad.  The  officials  of  the  railroad,  men  who  were 
his  comrades,  members  of  the  church,  and  people  of  every  class 
and  grade  heard  with  sympathy  and  sorrow  of  his  sufferings. 

Charles  Sumner  had  just  died  in  Washington.  His  remains 
were  to  be  brought  to  Boston,  the  city  of  his  love,  and  a  public 
funeral  was  to  be  awarded  to  him.  Notwithstanding  this,  thou- 
sands talked  and  thought  of  the  Christian  engineer.  The  men 
of  the  yard  went  up  in  a  body  to  his  house  to  tender  him  their 
sympathy  and  offer  their  services.  They  were  not  permitted 
to  see  him.  •  He  was  too  sick.  Two  were  appointed  to  go  in 
and  ask  him  "  if  the  religion  of  Christ  was  all  to  him  he 
thought  it  would  be  ?"  They  wanted  to  know  from  him. 


SAM'S  LAST  RIDE.  235 

This  roused  the  dying  hero.  He  turned  and  said,  "  Tell  the 
boys  once  I  was  afraid  of  the  cable,  but  I  am  afraid  no  more. 
I  have  tried  every  link  in  the  chain  and  she  holds.  The  cable 
and  the  anchor  are  alt  right,  and  I  am  safe." 

The  men  had  hardly  left  him  when  the  change  came.  He 
fell  back  upon  his  bed.  The  film  came  over  his  eyes.  His 
legs  stiffened.  He  cried,  "  Open  the  door,"  and  before  there 
could  be  an  answer  Jesus  spoke  to  him  saying,  "  I  know  thy 
works,  behold  I  have  set  before  thee  an  open  door  and  no  man 
can  shut  it,  for  thou  hast  a  little  strength  and  hast  kept  my 
word,  and  hast  not  denied  my  name."  No  man  could  shut 
it.  The  physician  came  to  his  bedside,  looked  at  him,  and 
said,  "  He  is  in  better  hands."  He  died  March  12th,  1874. 

When  they  came  to  dress  him  for  his  burial  there  fell  out  of 
the  Sabbath  vest  a  piece  of  paper  on  which  he  had  written 
these  words,  "  The  Lord  is  my  strength  and  my  song,  and  He 
is  become  my  salvation."  They  seemed  to  those  about  him 
and  to  all  who  knew  him  as  his  message  from  the  eternal 
world. 

On  the  15th  of  March,  1874,  we  buried  him  from  the  Har- 
vard Street  Baptist  Church.  The  pastor,  Rev.  L.  L.  Wood, 
assisted  at  the  service.  These  resolutions  were  read.  They 
had  been  passed  by  the  railroad  engineers  and  other  employes 
of  the  Boston  and  Albany  Railroad,  presided  over  by  Hon. 
Ginery  Twitchel  : 

WHEREAS,  In  the  providence  of  Almighty  God  we  have  had 
removed  from  our  midst  our  friend  and  brother,  Samuel  B. 
Hobart, 

Resolved,  That  in  Samuel  B.  Hobart  we  have  long  recog- 
nized the  4t  workman  who  needeth  not  to  be  ashamed  of  his 
work,"  a  cherished  friend,  and  a  man  of  large  and  ennobling 
influence. 

Resolved,  That  by  his  loss  death  has  robbed  us  of  one  whom 
we  hold  in  the  highest  esteem  and  confidence,  and  whose 
memory  we  shall  ever  cherish  as  one  who  lived  to  help  and 
save  others  ;  that  his  daily  life  was  such  as  would  tend  to  ele- 


236  SAM   HOBART. 

vate  those  around  him,  and  stimulate  them  to  throw  off  the 
burden  of  sin  and  put  upon  them  the  armor  of  our  Lord  and 
Saviour,  Jesus  Christ. 

Resolved,  That  while  deeply  lamenting  our  great  loss,  and 
tenderly  sympathizing  with  his  afflicted  widow  and  others 
nearer  than  ourselves  by  ties  of  kindred,  we  would  remember, 
as  he  did,  that  death  is  not  the  end,  but  he  that  loves  so  faith- 
fully continues  hereafter. 

Resolved,  That  we  recognize  it  as  a  duty  and  a  privilege  to 
express  here  and  now  our  high  sense  of  his  long  and  successful 
labors,  in  season  and  out  of  season,  in  behalf  of  the  cause  of 
temperance  ;  and  we  bear  willing  testimony  also  to  the  fervor 
with  which  he  labored  to  have  all  share  in  his  own  love  and 
devotion  to  the  Church  of  Christ. 

On  the  last  day  before  he  died  he  spoke  of  his  happiness  in 
having  made  his  peace  with  God  when  he  was  well.  Said  he, 
44 1  cannot  think  now.  I  mix  things.  I  cannot  pray. "  This 
faith  took  away  the  sting  of  death  and  robbed  the  grave  of 
victory.  His  untimely  death  filled  all  hearts  with  sorrow.  He 
was  the  friend  of  the  poor,  and  they  mourned  him  as  a  brother 
gone.  Freely  he  gave  of  love.  Freely  of  love  he  received. 
Women  whose  husbands  were  intemperate  came  to  him  for 
sympathy  and  strength.  How  their  tears  rained  on  his  white 
face  in  the  open  coffin  will  always  be  a  memory  with  some. 
He  was  a  model  husband.  As  I  think  of  his  delicacy,  of  his 
thoughtfulness,  of  his  strength,  and  of  his  tenderness  toward 
those  who  leaned  on  him  and  trusted  him,  I  find  no  words  in 
which  to  express  my  admiration.  It  was  this  which  made  men 
love  him.  He  was  a  genuine.  There  was  not  an  ounce  of 
waste  material  in  his  nature.  He  was  true  all  through.  He 
dare  say  what  he  thought.  He  had  the  feeling  that  God  spoke 
through  him,  and  that  he  must  live  as  seeing  him  who  is  invisi- 
ble. Hence,  to  hundreds  of  stalwart  men  he  was  a  companion 
and  a  friend.  He  dare  be  plain  with  men  above  him  in  posi- 
tion, as  they  dare  be  plain  with  him.  He  loved  as  a  man  loves, 
with  a  great,  strong,  robust  love. 


SAM'S  LAST  RIDE.  237 

His  influence  lives.  It  permeates  New  England,  and  it  is 
reaching  thousands  in  the  great  world  beyond.  It  shows  that 
it  is  possible  to  die  and  not  suffer  harm.  It  is  possible  to  die 
and  gain  by  it.  Death  is  not  necessarily  a  calamity  ;  it  may 
be  but  the  taking  down  the  scaffolding  which  conceals  the 
building,  so  that  the  structure  the  master  hath  planned,  built, 
and  beautified  shall  stand  forth  in  perfected  beauty,  the  glory 
of  humanity,  and  the  grandest  triumph  of  the  handiwork  of 
God. 

God  draws  by  the  cords  of  a  man.  Jehovah  influences  the 
world  by  living  men.  They  are  his  epistles  known  and  read  of 
all  men.  They  are  sent  forth  to  fulfil  an  individual  mission 
and  to  accomplish  a  specified  work.  When  that  mission  is  ful- 
filled and  that  work  is  accomplished,  is  it  strange  that  it  should 
be  written  of  them  as  of  Enoch,  "  They  walked  with  God  ;  and 
they  were  not,  for  God  took  them. ' '  They  belonged  to  God 
even  while  they  toiled  among  men  ;  and  as  God  loves  his  own 
and  delights  in  having  his  beloved  ones  near  him,  we  are  not 
surprised  that  the  promise  is  fulfilled  and  that  such  came  to  the 
grave  in  a  full  age,  "  like  as  a  shock  of  corn  cometh  in  his 
season." 

The  design  of  death  is  to  complete  the  work  assigned  to 
earth.  Life  has  its  seed,  its  plant,  its  growth,  its  blossom,  its 
fruit,  and  its  harvest. 

"  There  is  a  reaper  whose  name  is  Death.** 

This  work  is  not  to  be  regarded  with  sorrow  even.  It  is 
necessary  to  our  comfort.  Heaven  is  the  best  place  for  a 
rounded  life  and  for  a  ripened  fame.  Old  age,  with  its  pains, 
its  weaknesses,  its  painful  neglects,  its  being  set  aside  and 
written  down  as  useless,  its  being  ignored  in  the  affairs  of  life, 
is  without  much  to  relieve  it.  Death,  which  is  to  the  Chris- 
tian a  release  from  care  and  anxiety,  from  depression  and  sor- 
row, may  be  welcomed  as  a  loving  messenger  from  God, 

Standing  under  the  shadow  of  these  truths,  we  feel  that  we 
are  enriched  by  them.  AVe  resemble  pilgrims  beneath  the 


238  SAM    HOB  ART. 

palm  trees  of  the  desert,  at  whose  feet  run  the  waters  of  an  un- 
failing spring,  and  above  whose  heads  is  heard  the  sweet  carols 
of  singing  birds. 

God  takes  marvellous  care  of  his  own.  Believe  it  or  not,  it 
is  safe  to  trust  God  and  to  serve  him.  The  reputation  of  a 
true  man,  even  in  this  world,  is  under  the  special  protection  of 
Jehovah. 

It  will  be  all  right  at  last  with  the  true,  was  his  faith.  The 
last  time  I  saw  him  alive  we  rode  together  on  the  engine  from 
Boston  to  Worcester,  and  he  told  me  of  the  trouble  of  a  friend 
who  could  not  see  clear  into  heaven.  He  comforted  him  in 
this  beautiful  and  suggestive  way,  saying  :  "  When. wife  and  I 
started  for  the  White  Mountains  I  gave  her  a  good  seat,  sat  by 
her  and  talked  many  hours.  I  did  not  tell  her  at  the  outset  to 
look  at  the  mountains,  but  at  the  sea,  for  we  were  by  the  sea 
and  were  far  away  from  the  mountains.  But  when  just  at 
sunset  we  reached  the  right  place,  I  said,  '  Look  at  the  moun- 
tains,' and  she  saw  them.  Don't  try  and  see  heaven  until  you 
get  there. "  He  lived  for  heaven  every  day,  but  did  not  try 
and  see  it  until  the  hour  of  release  came.  Our  last  ride  was 
our  best  ride.  The  whole  talk  was  about  Jesus,  about  the 
littleness  of  earth  and  the  glory  of  heaven  ;  about  the  fidelity 
of  Christ  in  loving,  in  keeping  his  promises  and  in  giving  joy 
to  his  children,  even  when  misunderstood  and  perhaps 
maligned.  The  dear  old  face  glowed  with  love  for  Christ  and 
men.  It  was  grand  to  see  him.  Suddenly  he  said  again,  "  I 
am  not  going  to  last  long.  If  anything  comes  to  me  you  will 
come  ?" 

"  Yes." 

He  then  kissed  me,  and  Worcester  coming  in  sight,  we  rode 
into  town,  our  eyes  wet  with  tears. 

He  went  on  with  his  work  on  the  road,  in  the  daily  prayer- 
meeting  at  Worcester,  in  the  church,  until  at  last  he  was  not, 
for  God  took  him. 

My  vow  is  kept.     My  task  is  done,     Samuel  Brooks  Hobart, 


SAM'S  LAST  RIDE.  239 

the  locomotive  engineer,  goes  forth  a  benediction  and  a  blessing 
to  all  who  shall  feel  the  inspiration  of  his  noble  life,  and  be 
.  brought  thereby  into  association  with  Him  who  saved  him,  who 
loved  him,  and  now  keeps  him  as  a  star  in  the  crown  of  His 
rejoicing. 


BEX. 


A. 

Adams,  family,  24 ;  John,  statue  ot, 
34 ;  John  Quincy,  187. 

Alexander,  quoted,  34. 

Arthur,  President,  chief  of  the  Brother- 
hood, 84  ;  address  to  Brotherhood, 
84. 

Astor,  John  Jacob,  words  to  working- 
men,  121. 

B. 

Ballantyne,  life  on  the  rail,  225. 

Beecher's,  Henry  Ward,  estimate  of 
Hobart,  14 ;  his  description  of  Ho- 
bart,  51,  52. 

Bible,  Reading  of,  on  the  rail,  229. 

Books  for  R.R.  men,  165.  167. 

Boston,  battle  ground  of  Liberty,  43. 

Bowdoin,  Picture  of,  47. 

Braithwait,  builder  of  the  Novelty,  18. 

Brotherhood,  The,  of  locomotive  en- 
gineers, 83 ;  address  to  the,  91 ;  op- 
posed by  the  B.  &  O.  R.  R.,  103. 

Butler,  B.  F.,  Speech  of,  85 ;  ordered  to 
New  York,  207. 

C. 

Camden  station,  115. 

Capital  and  lat>or,  Conflict  between, 

110. 

Caus,  Solomon  de,  first  inventor,  16. 
Columbus,  Irving's  story  of,  142. 
Chipman,  Geo.  W.,  183. 
Christianity  as  a  police  force,  147. 
Communism,  111. 
Commercial  life,  Representatives  of, 

126  :  integrity,  its  value,  129. 
Crystal  Palace   temperance  meeting, 

64. 

D. 

Davenport,  M.  R.,  quoted,  77 ;  again, 
147. 

Despotism,  131. 

Devereux,  J.  H.,  on  the  railway 
strikes,  14(K 

Different  kinds  of  drunkards,  196,  120. 

Disraeli,  24. 

Dow,  Neal,  interview  with  a  tobacco- 
smoker,  71. 

E. 

Eldorado,  40. 

Employes'  Relief  Association  or- 
ganized May  1st,  1880, 103  ;  member- 
ship, etc.,  104. 

Engineer,  The,  at  rest,  834. 

Erie,  Pa,*  147. 


Ericsson,  18. 

Extracts  from  the  third  International 

Conference  R.  R.  Dept.,  164 
Evans,  Oliver,  17. 

P. 

Faneuil  Hall,  43. 

Foote,Commodore,  and  General  Grant* 
190. 

Fort  Wayne  strikes,  115. 

Franklin,  Picture  of,  47. 

Free  libraries,  46. 

Fulton's  account  of  Hobart's  conver- 
sion, 54. 

G. 

George,  Henry,  19. 

Gilbert,  43. 

Gladstone,  24. 

Gough,  how  he  was  saved  from  intem- 
perance, 193. 

Grant.  U.  S.,  90. 

Guthrie,  Thomas,  D.D.,  73. 

H. 

Hobart,  Sam,  his  personal  appearance, 
13 ;  as  a  boy,  21 ;  his  early  history, 
21 ;  becomes  a  machinist,  28 ;  be- 
comes a  locomotive  engineer,  35  ;  his 
love  for  his  calling,  36 ;  becomes  a 
Free  Mason,  42 ;  his  reverence  for 
his  mother,  43 ;  he  takes  a  wife,  46  ; 
becomes  a  widower,  48  ;  becomes  a 
Christian,  57  ;  marries  again,  57 ;  his 
tact  in  preaching  temperance,  64; 
opposes  the  use  of  tobacco,  67;  at 
work  for  God,  75  ;  how  he  treated 
two  communists,  112 ;  Sam's  faith, 
or  whom  to  trust,  136  ;  instances  of 
his  courage,  219 :  his  love  for  the 
Bible.  231  ;  his  last  ride,  234 ;  account 
of  his  funeral,  235. 

I. 

Idlers,  No  place  for,  32. 

Incident,  A  thrilling.  222. 

Ingersoll,  Edward  D.,  160  ;  a  busy  man, 
163. 

Intellects.  The  mightiest,  ruined  by 
liquor,  202. 

Intemperance,  a  curse,  178 ;  as  a  dis- 
ease, 198. 

J. 

Jesse,  44. 

Johnson's,  o.  T.,  words  to  the  Brother- 
hood, 00, 


242 


INDEX. 


Kansas  City,  strike  ended,  lia 
Key  to  prosperity,  132. 
Kingsley,  Charles,  41. 


. 
Library  for  R.  R.  men,  when  and  where 

established,  154. 
Lincoln's,  Abraham,  faith,  143. 
Loafers,  Christian,  177. 
Locomotives,  an  American  invention, 

17  ;  trials  of,  18  ;  nature  of,  29. 
Low,  Seth,  25. 
Loyson's,  J.  P.,  Life  of  Stephenson,  16. 


MacMaster,  Hon.  Wm.,  159. 
Magna  Charta,  40. 
Man,  The  great,  143. 
Marston,  Sarah  Jane,  47. 
Mistakes,  Learning  by,  175. 
Moody,  D.  L.,  146. 
Morrissey,  John,  42. 
Mothers,  their  value,  26w 

N. 

Napoleon,  44. 
New  England  women,  27. 
New  York  Central  begun,  96. 
Newark,  Ohio,  strikes,  115. 
Nihilists,  148. 

Novelty,  a  favorite  model,  but  failed, 
19. 

O. 

Orange,  William  of,  41. 
Orr,  W.  J.,  quoted,  169. 
Osborne,  Engineer,  221. 

P. 

Paris,  under  the  Commune,  115. 
Parker,  Theodore,  on  chnrch-going,  81. 
Peck.  Rev.  Dr.,  quoted,  15. 
Pennsylvania  Central.  33. 
Peto,  Sir  Morton,  on  strikes,  115. 
Pittsburgh  in  the  hands  of  a  mob,  115; 

riot  at,  117. 

Poor,  God  cares  for,  132. 
Problem,  A,  hard  to  solve,  195. 
Protestant  Episcopal  Church,  General 

convention  of,  148. 
Providence  rights  wrongs. 

Q. 
Questions  of  importance,  195. 


Railroads,   Baltimore  &  Ohio,  15;  in 

1860  and  1883,  96. 

Railroads  strikes  commenced,  115. 
Railroad  men.  The  \v.ork  among,  146 ; 

the  need  of  it,  147. 
Resolutions  concerning  llooart,  235. 
Richmond,  A  tribute  to  Deau,  88. 
Rich,  God  cares  for,  132. 
Rocket,  first  successful  locomotive,  18. 

S. 

Sabbath  School  a  blessing.  24. 
Simmons,  Doc,  his  heroism,  162, 
Smith,  Frank  W.,  quoted,  169. 
Snow,  Barzillai,  dying  like  a  hero,  214. 
Stephenson,  George,  15, 18,  96. 
Stockwell,  his  experience,  168, 

T. 

Taylor,  B.  FM  57. 

Temperance,  an  added  force,  185. 
Tremont  Temple,  43. 
Train,  A,  on  fire,  227. 
Trevethick,  Richard,  17. 

U. 

Uniac,  Edward  H.,  the  story  of  his  fall. 

Underbill,  A.  B.,  master  mechanic,  20S. 

V. 

Vanderbitt,  W.  H..  his  faith  rewarded, 
120 ;  Cornelius,  25  ;  W.  H.  distributing 
$100,000, 162. 

W. 

Wasted  Substances,  173. 
Watt,  patented  locomotive,  17. 
Webster,  Daniel,  89,  «06. 
Whitefield,  Picture  of,  47. 
Wild  Oats,  186. 
Williams,  H.  F.,  quoted,  169. 
Wilson,  Charles,  speech  of,  85. 
Work  among  R.  R.  men,  146. 
Woman,  A  drunken,  190. 

Y. 

Young,  Sam's  love  for,  206. 

Young  men,  where  to  look  after  them, 

140. 
Young  Men's   Christian  Association, 

Railwav  department  of,  154. 
Young's  Hotel,  a  scene,  187. 


LIVES    OF   ILLUSTRIOUS 


SHOEMAKERS. 


BT 

WILLIAM    EDWARD    WINKS. 


NEW  YORK: 

FUNK  &  WAGNALLS,  PUBLISHERS, 
10  AND  12  DEY  STREET. 


PEEFAOE. 


TIME  out  of  mind  The  Gentle  Craft  has  been  invested  with 
an  air  of  romance.  This  honorable  title,  given  to  no  other 
occupation  but  that  of  shoemakers,  is  an  indication  of  the  high 
esteem  in  which  the  Craft  is  held.  It  is  by  no  means  an  easy 
thing  to  account  for  a  sentiment  of  this  kind,  or  to  trace  such 
a  title  to  its  original  source.  Whether  the  traditionary  stories 
which  have  clustered  round  the  lives  of  Saints  Anianus, 
Crispin  and  Crispianus,  or  Hugh  and  Winifred,  gave  rise  to 
the  sentiment,  or  the  sentiment  itself  is  to  be  regarded  as 
accounting  for  the  traditions,  one  cannot  tell.  Probably  there 
is  some  truth  in  both  theories,  for  sentiment  and  tradition  act 
and  react  on  each  other. 

Certain  it  is,  that  among  all  our  craftsmen  none  appear  to 
enjoy  a  popularity  comparable  with  that  of  "  the  old  Cobbler" 
or  "  Shoemaker."  Most  men  have  a  good  word  to  say  for 
him,  a  joke  to  crack  about  him,  or  a  story  to  tell  of  his  ability 
and  "  learning,"  his  skill  in  argument,  or  his  prominence  and 
influence  in  political  or  religious  affairs.  Both  in  ancient  times 
and  in  modern,  in  the  Old  World  and  in  the  New,  a  rare  inter- 
est has  been  felt  in  Shoemakers,  as  a  class,  on  account  of  their 
remarkable  intelligence  and  the  large  number  of  eminent  men 
who  have  risen  from  their  ranks. 

These  facts,  and  especially  the  last — which  has  been  the 
subject  of  frequent  remark — may  be  deemed  sufficient  justifica- 
tion for  the  existence  of  such  a  work  as  this. 

Another  reason  might  be  given  for  the  issue  of  such  a  book 
as  this  just  now.  A  change  has  come  over  the  craft  of  boot 


IV  PREFACE. 

and  shoe  making.  The  use  of  machinery  has  effected  nothing 
short  of  a  revolution  in  the  trade.  The  old-fashioned  Shoe- 
maker, with  his  leathern  apron  and  hands  redolent  of  wax,  has 
almost  disappeared  from  the  workrooms  and  streets  of  such 
towns  as  Northampton  and  Stafford  in  Old  England,  or  Lvnn 
in  New  England.  His  place  and  function  are  now,  for  the 
most  part,  occupied  by  the  "  cutter"  and  the  "  clicker,"  the 
"  riveter"  and  the  "  machine-girl."  The  old  Cobbler,  like 
the  ancient  spinster  and  handloom  weaver,  is  retiring  into  the 
shade  of  the  boot  and  shoe  factory.  Whether  or  no  he  will 
disappear  entirely  may  be  questionable  ;  but  there  can  be  no 
doubt  that  the  Cobbler,  sitting  at  his  stall  and  working  with 
awl  and  hammer  and  last,  will  never  again  be  the  conspicuous 
figure  in  social  life  that  he  was  wont  to  be  in  times  gone  by. 
Before  we  bid  him  a  final  farewell,  and  forget  the  traditions  of 
his  humble  yet  honorable  craft,  it  may  be  of  some  service  to 
bring  under  one  review  the  names  and  histories  of  some  of  the 
more  illustrious  members  of  his  order. 

Long  as  is  the  list  of  these  worthy  "  Sons  of  Crispin,"  it 
cannot  be  said  to  be  complete.  Only  a  few  examples  are 
taken  from  Germany,  France,  and  the  United  States,  where,  in 
all  probability,  as  many  illustrious  Shoemakers  might  have  been 
met  with  as  in  Great  Britain  itself.  And  even  the  British 
muster-roll  is  not  fully  made  up.  With  only  a  few  exceptions, 
living  men  are  not  included  in  the  list.  Very  gladly  would  the 
writer  have  added  to  these  exceptions  so  remarkable  a  man  as 
Thomas  Edward,  the  shoemaker  of  Banff,  one  of  the  best  self- 
taught  naturalists  of  our  time,  and,  for  the  last  sixteen  years, 
an  Associate  of  the  Linnasan  Society.  But  for  the  Life  of  this 
eminent  Scotchman  the  reader  must  be  referred  to  the  interest- 
ing biography  written  by  his  friend  Dr.  Smiles. 

In  writing  the  longer  sketches,  free  and  ample  use  has  been 
made  of  biographies  already  in  existence.  But  this  has  not 
been  done  without  the  kind  consent  of  the  owners  of  copy- 
rights. To  these  the  writer  tenders  his  grateful  acknowledg- 
ments. To  the  widow  of  the  Rev.  T.  W.  Blanshard  he  is 


PREFACE.  V 

0 

indebted  for  permission  to  draw  upon  the  pages  of  her  late 
husband's  valuable  biography  of  "  The  Wesleyan  Demos- 
thenes, "  Samuel  Bradburn ;  to  Jacob  Halls  Drew,  Esq., 
Bath,  for  his  courtesy  in  allowing  a  liberal  use  to  be  made  of 
the  facts  given  in  his  biography  of  his  father,  Samuel  Drew, 
"  The  Self-Taught  Cornishman  ;"  and  to  the  venerable 
Thomas  Cooper,  as  well  as  to  his  publishers,  Messrs.  Hodder  & 
Stoughton,  for  their  kind  favor  in  regard  to  the  lengthy  and 
detailed  sketch  of  the  author  of  "  The  Purgatory  of  Suicides." 
This  sketch,  the  longest  in  the  book,  is  inserted  by  special 
permission  of  Messrs.  Hodder  &  Stoughton. 

The  minor  sketches,  have  been  drawn  from  a  variety  of 
sources.  One  or  two  of  these  require  special  mention.  In  pre- 
paring the  notice  of  John  O'Neill,  the  Poet  of  Temperance, 
the  writer  has  received  kind  help  from  Mr.  Richard  Gooch  of 
Brighton,  himself  a  poet  of  temperance.  Messrs.  J.  &  J.  H. 
Rutherford  of  Kelso  have  also  been  good  enough  to  place  at 
the  writer's  service — but,  unfortunately,  too  late  to  be  of  much 
use — a  copy  of  their  recently  published  autobiography  of  John 
Younger,  the  Shoemaker  of  St.  Boswells.  In  the  all-too-brief 
section  devoted  to  American  worthies,  valuable  aid  has  been 
given  to  the  author  by  Henry  Phillips,  Esq.,  jun.,  A.M., 
Ph.D.,  Corresponding  Member  of  the  Antiquarian  Society  of 
Philadelphia,  U.S.  A. 

In  all  probability  the  reader  has  never  been  introduced  to  so 
large  a  company  of  illustrious  Sons  of  Crispin  before.  It  is 
sincerely  hoped  that  he  will  derive  both  pleasure  and  profit 
from  their  society. 

WILLIAM  EDWARD  WINKS. 

CARDIFF,  1882. 


CONTENTS. 


PAGE 

PREFACE iii 


CHAPTER    I. 

Sir  Cloudesley  Shovel :  The  Cobbler's  Boy  who  became  an  Admiral. .       17 

CHAPTER   II. 
James  Lackington :   Shoemaker  and  Bookseller 29 

CHAPTER   III. 

Samuel  Bradburn :    The  Shoemaker  who  became  President  of  the 

Wesleyan  Conference 53 

CHAPTER   IV. 

William  Gifford :  From  the  Shoemaker's  Stool  to  the  Editor's  Chair. .       75 

CHAPTER  V. 

Robert  Bloomfield  :  The  Shoemaker  who  wrote  "The  Farmer's  Boy,"       93 

CHAPTER  VI. 
Samuel  Drew :   The  Metaphysical  Shoemaker 109 

CHAPTER  VII. 

William  Carey :   The  Shoemaker  who  Translated  the  Bible  into  Ben- 
gali and  Hindostani ' 129 


viii  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER  VIII. 
John  Pounds :   The  Philanthropic  Shoemaker 151 

CHAPTER   IX. 

Thomas  Cooper :  The  Self-educated  Shoemaker  who  "  Reared  his  own 

Monument " 165 

CHAPTER  X. 
A  Constellation  of  Celebrated  Cobblers 189 

ANCIENT  EXAMPLES. 

The  Cobbler  and  the  Artist  Apelles 191 

The  Shoemaker  Bishops :  Annianas,  Bishop  of  Alexandria,  and  Alex- 
ander, Bishop  of  Comana 1 92 

The  Pious  Cobbler  of  Alexandria 193 

"Rabbi  Jochanan, The  Shoemaker" 194 

EUROPEAN  EXAMPLES  :   France. 

SS.  Crispin  and  Crispianus:   The  Patron  Saints  of  Shoemakers 197 

"  The  Learned  Baudouin  " 200 

Henry  Michael  Buch :   "Good  Henry " 201 

Germany. 

Hans  Sachs :   "  The  Nightingale  of  the  Reformation  " 203 

Jacob  Boehmen :   The  Mystic 205 

Italy. 

Gabriel  Cappellini :    "  il  Caligarino  " 207 

Francesco  Brizzio :   The  Artist 208 

Holland. 

Ludolph  de  Jong :  The  Portrait-Painter 209 

Sons  of  Shoemakers 209 

GREAT  BRITAIN. 

"Ye  Cocke  of  Westminster" 210 

Timothy  Bennett:  The  Hero  of  Hampton-Wick 212 


CONTENTS.  ix 

Military  and  Naval  Heroes. 

PAGE 

The  Souters  of  Selkirk 213 

Watt  Tinlinn 214 

Colonel  Hewson  :  The  "  Cerdon  "  of  Hudibras 215 

Sir  Christopher  Myngs,  Admiral 218 

Astrologers  and  others. 

Dr.  Partridge ' 220 

Dr.  Ehenezer  Sibly,  F.R.C.P 222 

Manoah  Sibly,  Short-hand  Writer,  Preacher,  etc 224 

Mackey,  "  the  Learned  Shoemaker"  of  Norwich,  and  two  other  Learned 

Shoemakers 225 

Anthony  Purver,  Bible  Revisionist 226 

The  Poets  of  the   Cobbler's  Stall. 

James  Woodhouse,  the  Friend  of  Shenstone 228 

John  Bennet,  Parish  Clerk  and  Poet 229 

Richard  Savage,  the  Friend  of  Pope 230 

Thomas  Olivers,  Hymn-Writer '. .  231 

Thomas  Holcroft,  Dramatist,  Novelist. . .    234 

Joseph  Blacket,  "  The  Son  of  Sorrow  " 236 

David  Service  and  other  Songsters  of  the  Shoemaker's  Stall 242 

John  Struthers,  Poet  and  Editor 243 

John  O'Neill,  the  Poet  of  Temperance 244 

John  Younger,  Fly-Fisher  and  Corn-Law  Rhymer 246 

Charles  Crocker,  "  The  Poor  Cobbler  of  Chichester  " 247 

Preachers  and  Theologians. 

George  Fox,  Founder  of  the  Society  of  Friends 249 

Thomas  Shillitoe,  the  Shoemaker  who  stood  before  Kings 251 

John  Thorp,  Founder  of  the  Independent  Church  at  Masboro' 255 

William  Huntingdon,  S.S 257 

Robert  Morrison,  D.D.,  Chinese  Scholar  and  Missionary 258 

Rev.  John  Burnet,  Preacher  and  Philanthropist 259 

John  Kitto,  D.D.,  Biblical  Scholar 261 


X  CONTENTS. 

Science. 

PAGE 

William  Sturgeon,  the  Electrician 264 

Politicians. 

Thomas  Hardy,  of  "  The  State  Trials  " 265 

George  Odger,  Political  Orator 2G6 

AMERICAN  EXAMPLES. 

Noah  Worcester,  D.D.,  "  The  Apostle  of  Peace  " 271 

Roger  Sherman,  the  Patriot ; 274 

Henry  Wilson,  the  Natick  Cobbler 276 

John  Greenleaf  Whittier,  "  The  Quaker  Poet " 277 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS. 

PAGE 

SIK  CLOUDSLEY  SHOVEL, 13 

JAMES  LACKINGTON, 25 

REV.  S.  BRADBURN, 49 

ROBERT  BLOOMFIELD, 89 

SAMUEL  DREW,  M.A., 105 

WILLIAM  CAREY, 125 

THOMAS  COOPER, 161 

JOSEPH  BLACK ET, 237 

J.  G.  WHITTIER, 269 


SIR  CLOUDESLEY  SHOVEL 


THE    COBBLER'S    BOY    WHO    BECAME    AN    ADMIRAL. 


"  Honor  and  shame  from  no  condition  rise  ; 

Act  well  your  part,  there  all  the  honor  lies. 

Fortune  in  men  has  some  small  difference  made, 

One  flaunts  in  rags,  one  flutters  in  brocade ; 

The  cobbler  aproned  and  the  parson  gowned, 

The  friar  hooded,  and  the  monarch  crowned. 
"What  differ  more'  (you  cry)  'than  crown  and  cowl?' 

I'll  tell  you,  friend, — a  wise  man  and  a  fool. 

You'll  find,  if  once  the  monarch  acts  the  monk, 

Or,  cobbler-like,  the  parson  will  be  drunk ; 

Worth  makes  the  man,  and  want  of  it  the  fellow; 

The  rest  is  all  but  leather  or  prunella." 

— POPE,  Essay  on  Man. 


SIR  CLOUDESLEY  SHOVEL. 

ON  the  south  side  of  the  choir  of  Westminster  Abbey  may 
be  seen  a  very  handsome  and  costly  monument,  on  which 
reclines  a  life-sized  figure  in  marble,  representing  a  naval  com- 
mander. The  grotesque  uniform  and  elaborate  wig  are  of  the 
style  of  Queen  Anne's  time.  The  commander  himself  has  all 
the  look  of  a  well-bred  gentleman  and  a  brave  officer.  He  is  a 
capital  type  of  the  old  school  of  naval  heroes,  stout  in  person, 
jolly  in  temper,  but  terrible  in  action,  by  whom  our  shores 
were  defended,  our  colonies  secured  to  us,  and  the  power  and 
stability  of  the  British  Empire  were  established  for  centuries  to 
come.  These  men  had,  in  many  instances,  risen  from  the  low- 
est social  status,  and  had  been  compelled  to  begin  their  nautical 
career  in  the  humblest  fashion,  accepting  the  most  menial  posi- 
tion the  naval  service  could  offer  them.  When  they  came  to 
hold  positions  of  command,  they  had,  perhaps,  no  culture  nor 
general  education  ;  the  little  knowledge  they  possessed  was 
confined  to  the  arts  of  navigation  and  warfare,  and  this  they 
had  picked  up  in  actual  service.  Such  knowledge  served  them 
well,  and  made  them  equal  to  any  emergency.  It  made  them 
capable  of  deeds  of  valor  and  enterprise,  that  brought  renown 
to  their  own  name  and  honor  to  their  country.  They  could 
sail  round  the  world  ;  they  could,  by  their  discoveries,  add 
new  territories  to  the  British  crown,  and  open  up  splendid 
fields  for  commercial  enterprise  ;  they  could  keep  their  vessels 
afloat  in  a  gale  of  wind,  get  to  windward  of  the  enemy  if  they 
wanted,  pour  a  broadside  into  him,  board  and  capture  his 
vessels  or  blow  up  his  forts  ;  and,  very  often  fighting  against 
fearful  odds,  beat  him  by  dint  of  superior  skill  in  seamanship 
and  greater  courage  in  action.  Such  a  commander  was  "  old 
Benbow,"  whose  name  appears  so  often  in  the  nautical  songs 
of  the  last  century  ;  and  such  a  commander  was  his  contem- 
porary, Sir  Cloudesley  Shovel,  to  whose  memory  the  handsome 
monument  just  referred  to  is  erected.  Let  us  pause  for  a 
moment  to  read  the  inscription.  It  runs  thus  : 

"  Sir  Cloudesley    Shovel,  Knt.,  Bear- Admiral  of    Great  Britain, 
Admiral  and  Command er-in-Chief  of  the  Fleet :  The  just  reward  of 


18  ILLUSTRIOUS   SHOEMAKERS. 

long  and  faithful  services.  He  was  deservedly  beloved  of  his  country, 
and  esteemed  though  dreaded  by  the  enemy,  who  had  often  experi- 
enced his  conduct  and  courage.  Being  shipwrecked  on  the  rocks  of 
Scilly,  in  his  voyage  from  Toulon,  the  22d  of  October  1707,  at  night, 
in  the  fifty-seventh  year  of  his  age,  his  fate  was  lamented  by  all,  but 
especially  by  the  seafaring  part  of  the  nation,  to  whom  he  was  a 
worthy  example.  His  body  was  flung  on  the  shore,  and  buried  with 
others  in  the  sands  ;  but  being  soon  after  taken  up,  was  placed  under 
this  monument,  which  his  royal  mistress  has  caused  to  be  erected 
to  commemorate  his  steady  loyalty  and  extraordinary  virtues.'* 

If  a  stranger  to  Sir  Cloudesley  Shovel's  history  were  to  stand 
looking  at  this  fine  monument,  admiring  the  fine  figure  which 
adorns  it  and  reading  the  glowing  epitaph,  he  would  no  doubt 
be  greatly  amazed  if  the  intelligent  verger  by  his  side  were  to 
whisper  in  his  ear,  "  That  man  was  once  a  cobbler's  boy  ;  the 
first  weapons  he  ever  used  in  fighting  the  battle  of  life  were 
the  awl  and  hammer  and  last." 

Yet  such  was  really  the  case.  It  is  true  he  did  not  remain 
long  at  his  humble  craft.  He  left  it,  indeed,  sooner  than  any 
of  the  notable  men  whose  life-story  we  have  to  tell  in  this 
book  ;  yet  he  wore  the  leathern  apron  long  enough  to  en- 
title him  to  a  place  in  the  category  of  Illustrious  Shoe- 
makers. 

Cloudesley  Shovel  was  born  in  the  county  of  Norfolk  in  the 
year  1650,  at  a  village  called  Clay,  lying  on  the  coast  between 
Wells  and  Cromer.  His  parents  are  said  to  have  been  in  but 
"  middling  circumstances  ;"  but  it  is  to  be  feared  that  even 
this  modest  term  describes  a  better  position  than  they  actually 
held.  They  were  evidently  of  the  humblest  class,  and  had  no 
means  of  giving  their  boy  either  a  good  education  or  a  good  start 
in  the  way  of  business.  Cloudesley  came  by  his  rather  singular 
name  as  no  doubt  thousands  had  done  before  his  time,  and 
have  done  since.  It  was  given  him  in  honor  of  a  relative  who 
was  in  good  circumstances,  and  in  the  hope  that  it  might 
probably  be  a  "  means  of  recommending  him  to  this  rela- 
tive's notice."  But  fortunately,  as  it  proved  for  him,  and 
proves  also  for  many  others,  no  fortune  was  left  him.  His 
parents  were  glad  to  send  him  to  the  village  shoemaker  to 
learn  the  art  and  mystery  of  making  and  mending  boots  and 
shoes. 

Finding  the  drudgery  of  a  sedentary  occupation  and  the  flat- 
ness and  quietude  of  village  life  irksome  to  his  active  tempera- 
ment and  aspiring  spirit,  after  a  few  years'  work  at  shoemak- 
ing,  he  made  off  to  sea.  His  taste  lying  in  the  direction  of  the 


SIR  CLOUDESLEY  SHOVEL.  19 

royal  r.aval  sendee,  be  went  and  joined  himself  to  a  man-of- 
war.  Here  he  had  the  good  fortune  to  come  under  the  care 
and  command  of  Sir  John  Narborough.  This  distinguished 
officer  had  once  been  in  Cloudesley's  position  as  a  man-of-war's 
cabin-boy,  and  having  shown  himself  a  smart  sailor  and  an 
industrious  student  of  navigation,  had  been  rapidly  promoted 
by  his  generous  captain,  Sir  Christopher  Myngs.  Sir  John 
Narborough  was  therefore  well  disposed,  by  his  kindly  disposi- 
tion and  his  own  early  experience,  to  favor  any  youth  of  prom- 
ise placed  in  similar  circumstances  to  those  through  which  he 
himself  had  passed.  In  young  Cloudesley  the  gallant  captain 
seems  to  have  seen  his  own  character  portrayed  and  his  own 
career  enacted  over  again.  The  lad  was  smart  at  seamanship, 
and  uncommonly  diligent  when  off  watch  in  the  study  of  any 
nautical  books  he  could  lay  hands  on.  He  seems  to  have 
found  out  very  early  in  his  course  that  the  secret  of  success  in 
life  lies  in  being  ready,  when  the  time  comes,  to  seize  and  use 
the  great  opportunities  of  fortune  which  sooner  or  later  come 
in  every  one's  way  ;  that  fortune  waits  on  diligence  and  cour- 
age ;  and  that  the  future  is  pretty  secure  to  the  man  who, 
whatever  be  his  position,  works  hard  and  does  his  plain  duty 
every  day. 

The  first  incident  in  his  naval  career  is  an  illustration  of  this. 
He  was  on  board  the  flag- ship  commanded  by  Admiral  Sir 
John  Narborough  in  one  of  the  most  hotly  contested  battles 
fought  between  the  English  and  the  Dutch.  The  masts  of 
the  flag-ship  were  shot  away  early  in  the  engagement.  The 
admiral  saw  that  his  case  was  hopeless,  however  bravely  his 
men  might  fight,  unless  the  English  reserve,  which  lay  some 
distance  oif  to  the  right,  could  be  brought  round  to  his  aid. 
The  thing  wanted  was  to  get  a  message  conveyed  to  the  captain 
of  the  reserve.  Signalling  was  out  of  the  question,  of  course  ; 
the  message  must  be  carried  to  the  ships  somehow.  Yet  he 
saw  plainly  that  in  such  a  hurricane  of  shot  and  shell,  and  with 
so  many  of  the  enemy's  vessels  close  at  hand,  no  boat  could 
hope  to  reach  the  English  ships.  But  a  man  might  swim  to 
them  !  Acting  on  this  thought,  Sir  John  wrote  an  order  and 
called  aloud  for  volunteers  to  swim  with  it,  under  the  fire  of 
the  enemy,  to  the  neighboring  ships.  Among  the  able- 
bodied  sailors  who  presented  themselves  for  the  terrible  duty 
young  Cloudesley  stood  forth.  Looking  at  him  with  admira- 
tion mingled  with  something  like  pity,  the  admiral  exclaimed, 
"  Why,  what  can  you  do,  my  fearless  lad  ?"  "  I  can  swim, 


20  ILLUSTRIOUS   SHOEMAKERS. 

sir,"  said  young  Cloudesley,  and  added  in  the  spirit  of  a 
patriot  and  a  hero,  "If  I  be  shot,  I  can  be  easier  spared  than 
any  one  else."  After  a  moment's  hesitation  on  the  part  of 
the  tender-hearted  admiral,  the  paper  was  handed  to  the  boy, 
who  placed  it  between  his  teeth  and  plunged  into  the  water. 
Cheered  by  his  comrades,  he  swam  on  through  a  perfect  hail 
of  shot,  bearing,  as  it  seemed,  a  charmed  life,  until  at  length 
the  smoke  of  battle  concealed  him  from  their  view.  The  gal- 
lant Sir  John  and  his  brave  crew  held  on  in  the  most  deter- 
mined manner  until  it  seemed  that  no  hope  was  left  that  the 
brave  lad  had  reached  the  friendly  vessels  in  safety  and  de- 
livered the  message.  They  were  beginning  to  think  of  him 
and  of  themselves  as  lost,  when  a  sudden  and  terrific  roar  of 
cannon  on  their  right  announced  that  the  English  vessels  were 
bearing  down  on  the  Dutch.  In  a  few  hours  the  enemy  was 
flying  in  all  directions.  The  cabin-boy  was  not  forgotten 
when  the  honors  and  rewards  of  victory  came  to  crown  the 
events  of  that  terrible  day,  for  all  agreed  that  he  had  done  a 
deed  that  deserved  well  of  his  country.  When  the  sun  was 
setting  on  the  sad  scene  of  wreck  and  ruin,  the  courageous  yet 
modest  youth  came  and  stood  once  more  on  the  deck  of  the 
flag-ship.  As  soon  as  the  old  admiral  saw  him  he  spoke  to 
him  a  few  words  of  generous  appreciation  and  sincere  thanks, 
finishing  with  the  significant  remark,  "  I  shall  live  to  see  you 
have  a  flag-ship  of  your  own."  The  prediction  came  true,  as 
we  shall  presently  see. 

Not  very  long  afterward  Cloudesley  Shovel  was  made  lieu- 
tenant of  His  Majesty's  navy.  The  first  opportunity  he  had  of 
distinguishing  himself  in  this  capacity  was  on  an  expedition 
sent  out  by  the  British  to  punish  the  corsairs  of  Tripoli.  These 
lawless  and  daring  rogues  had  long  infested  the  Mediterranean, 
doing  immense  mischief  to  commerce  and  committing  sad  dep- 
redations all  along  the  coast,  wherever  they  found  it  possible 
to  land  with  safety.  No  vessel  or  port,  from  the  Levant  to  the 
Straits  of  Gibraltar,  was  safe  from  their  attack.  Sir  John  Nar- 
borough  was  therefore  commissioned  to  bring  them  to  terms  or 
effectually  punish  them.  Arriving  before  Tripoli,  their  head- 
quarters, in  the  spring  of  1674,  he  found  the  enemy  in  great 
strength  under  the  shelter  of  their  formidable  forts,  and  de- 
cided, first  of  all,  according  to  his  instructions,  to  try  the 
effect  of  negotiations.  Lieutenant  Shovel,  then  only  twenty- 
four  years  of  age,  a  tall  thin  young  man,  with  little  on  his  face 
to  indicate  that  he  had  come  to  manhood,  was  sent  with  a  mes- 


SIR   CLOUDESLEY   SHOVEL.  21 

sage  for  the  Dey  of  Tripoli,  asking  for  satisfaction  for  the  past 
and  security  for  the  future.  This  message  was  delivered  in  a 
spirit  becoming  a  British  sailor  acting  on  behalf  of  the  interests 
of  his  country  ;  but  the  Dey,  a  haughty  and  imperious  man, 
refused  to  treat  with  such  a  youth,  and  one,  too,  who  held  so 
subordinate  a  position,  and  after  treating  him  with  insolence, 
sent  him  back  to  his  admiral  with  an  indefinite  answer.  The 
wily  ex-cobbler,  however,  had  kept  his  eyes  open  while  on 
land,  and  on  returning  to  Sir  John,  gave  him  so  good  an  ac- 

'  count  of  the  character  of  the  fortifications  and  the  disposition 
of  the  pirate  fleet,  that  he  was  sent  back  to  the  Dey  with  a 
second  message,  and  instructed  to  make  further  observations. 
He  was  treated  on  his  second  visit  with  even  greater  insolence, 
but  took  all  quietly,  not  caring  how  much  he  was  detained  by 
the  Dey's  abuse,  so  long  as  he  could  look  round  him  and 
obtain  a  good  view  of  the  enemy's  strength  and  position. 
Coming  back  once  more  to  his  vessel,  he  explained  the  whole 
situation,  and  described  a  plan  of  attack  which  he  felt  confident 
would  be  successful  in  destroying  the  vessels  lying  at  anchor  in 
the  bay.  The  admiral  was  so  much  pleased  with  his  lieutenant's 
smartness,  and  so  satisfied  that  his  plan  was  practicable  if  con- 
ducted with  skill  and  courage,  that  he  decided  to  intrust  the 
execution  of  it  to  "  his  boy  Shovel."  On  the  night  of  the  4th 
of  March  the  young  lieutenant  took  command  of  all  the  boats 
of  the  fleet,  which  had  been  filled  with  combustible  material, 
rowed  quietly  into  the  harbor  under  cover  of  the  darkness, 
made  straight  for  the  guard-ship,  which  he  set  on  fire  and 
thoroughly  disabled,  thus  preventing  it  from  giving  orders  to 
the  other  ships,  and,  before  the  enemy  could  prepare  for 
action,  fired  and  blew  up  his  vessels  one  after  another,  and 
then  leaving  them  in  a  state  of  the  utmost  confusion  and  dis- 
tress, brought  all  his  boats  back  to  the  British  fleet  without  the 
loss  of  a  single  man.  It  was  a  brave  exploit,  cleverly  conceived 
and  brilliantly  executed.  As  a  wholesome  castigation  of  these 
impudent  pirates  it  was  of  the  utmost  value  ;  and  more  than 
this,  it  crippled  their  power  for  mischief  for  a  long  time  to 

'come. 

The  generous  Sir  John  Narborough  fully  appreciated  the  cour- 
age and  skill  of  his  youthful  subordinate,  and  gave  him  the 
most  honorable  mention  in  the  official  letters  sent  to  the 
authorities  at  home.  He  was  at  once  promoted  to  the  rank  of 
captain.  This  office  he  held  for  eleven  years,  until  the  death 
of  Charles  II.  in  1685.  During  the  three  years  of  James  II. 's 


22  ILLUSTRIOUS   SHOEMAKERS. 

reign,  Captain  Shovel  is  said  to  have  been  in  every  naval  en- 
gagement that  occurred.  He  had  therefore  ample  opportunity 
of  distinguishing  himself  and  obtaining  still  further  promotion. 
Soon  after  the  accession  of  William  III.,  Captain  Shovel  was 
conspicuous  by  his  daring  and  clever  manoeuvring  at  the  bat- 
tle of  Bantry  Bay.  He  was  then  in  command  of  the  ship 
"  Edgar,"  and  the  favorable  notices  he  had  received  from 
Admiral  Hobart  brought  his  gallantry  before  the  attention  of 
his  monarch,  who  conferred  upon  the  brave  captain  the  honor 
of  knighthood.  Captain,  now  Sir  Cloudesley  Shovel,  was 
held  in  high  esteem  by  King  William  III.,  who  intrusted 
him  with  the  difficult  and  responsible  duty  of  conveying  the 
troops  to  Ireland  in  1690,  on  the  occasion  of  the  Irish  rebellion 
which  terminated  in  the  bloody  battle  of  the  Boyne.  This 
duty  was  discharged  with  so  much  ability  that  the  King  de- 
cided to  promote  Sir  Cloudesley  to  the  rank  of  "  rear-admiral 
of  the  blue."  In  conferring  this  reward  upon  the  gallant  com- 
mander, the  grateful  monarch  marked  his  sense  of  the  value  of 
the  service  rendered  by  delivering  the  commission  with  his 
own  hands.  Before  the  year  came  to  a  close  Sir  Cloudesley 
added  one  more  item  to  the  long  list  of  his  services  by  giving 
timely  assistance  to  General  Kirke  at  the  siege  of  Waterford. 
This  town  was  held  by  the  adherents  of  James  II.,  and  had 
long  defied  all  attempts  of  General  Kirke  to  take  it.  The  chief 
strength  of  the  town  lay  in  Duncannon  Castle,  on  which  an 
attack  was  made  by  Sir  Cloudesley 's  ships  and  men.  A  sur- 
render was  speedily  negotiated,  and  the  influential  town  of 
Waterford  fell  into  the  hands  of  the  English.  Two  years  after 
this  the  King  declared  him  k<  rear-admiral  of  the  red,"  giving 
him  at  the  same  time  the  command  of  the  squadron  which  was 
to  convey  the  King  to  Holland. 

Soon  after  his  return  from  Holland  ho  was  ordered  to 
join  the  fleet  then  under  the  command  of  Admiral  Russell, 
and  bore  a  very  important  part  in  the  brilliant  naval  victory 
known  as  the  batttle  of  La  Hogue.  His  last  services  during 
the  reign  of  William  III.  were  rendered  in  connection  with 
the  bombardment  of  Dunkirk,  which  he  undertook  at  the 
King's  express  command.  The  author  of  the  "  Lives  of 
British  Admirals,"*  referring  to  the  esteem  in  which  Sir 
Cloudesley  Shovel  was  held  by  his  king  and  country  at  the 
close  of  this  reign,  says,  "  He  was  always  consulted  by 

*  See  Campbell's  "  Lives,"  etc.,  vol.  iv.  p.  247. 


SIR   CLOUDESLEY   SHOVEL.  23 

His  Majesty  whenever  maritime  affairs  were    under  considera- 
tion. " 

His  first  service  in  the  reign  of  Queen  Anne  was  performed 
as  t4  admiral  of  the  white."  The  town  of  Vigo  in  Spain  had 
been  captured  by  Sir  George  Rooke,  and  Sir  Cloudesley  was 
ordered  to  go  out  and  bring  home  the  spoils  of  the  united 
Spanish  and  French  fleets,  which  lay  disabled  in  the  harbor. 
This  difficult  task  was  accomplished  with  a  rapidity  and  dash 
which  made  so  favorable  an  impression  on  the  court,  that  on 
his  return  "  it  was  immediately  resolved  to  employ  him  in 
affairs  of  the  greatest  consequence  for  the  future. "  In  J703 
he  was  put  in  command  of  the  grand  fleet,  and  protected  the 
interests  of  England  from  the  hostile  attempts  of  the  French  and 
allied  powers  in  the  Mediterranean.  At  the  battle  of  Malaga 
in  1704,  Sir  Cloudesley 's  division  of  nine  ships  led  the  van, 
and  had  to  bear  the  brunt  of  the  enemy's  attack  to  such  an  ex- 
tent, that  at  the  beginning  of  the  engagement  he  was  almost 
entirely  surrounded  by  the  French,  and  more  than  400  of  his 
men  were  either  killed  or  wounded.  On  his  return  home  he 
was  presented  to  the  Queen  by  Prince  George,  and  shortly 
afterward  received  the  appointment  of  commander-in-chief  and 
rear-admiral  of  the  English  fleet.  As  Admiral  Shovel  he  won 
great  credit  for  the  part  he  took  in  the  capture  of  the  impor- 
tant city  of  Barcelona  in  1705. 

In  the  month  of  October,  1707,  after  bearing  an  'honorable 
part  in  the  expedition  under  Prince  Eugene  against  Toulon, 
he  set  sail  with  ten  ships  of  the  line,  five  frigates,  and  other 
war  vessels  for  the  shores  of  England.  But  he  was  destined 
never  to  see  again  the  country  he  had  served  so  nobly  and 
loved  so  well.  By  some  strange  mischance,  which  has  never 
been  fully  accounted  for,  his  own  vessel  and  several  others,  on 
the  night  of  the  22 d  of  October,  struck  on  the  rocks  of  the 
Scilly  islands  and  perished.  The  brave  admiral  and  his  three 
sons-in-law,  who  were  on  board  his  vessel,  besides  a  large  num- 
ber of  officers  and  seamen,  were  drowned.  The  body  of  Sir 
Cloudesley  Shovel  was  washed  on  shore,  and  having  been 
found  by  a  number  of  smugglers,  was  stripped  of  an  emerald 
ring  and  other  valuables,  and  buried  in  the  sand.  On  attempt- 
ing to  sell  their  booty,  the  miscreants  found  that  the  ring  they 
prized  so  much  betrayed  their  guilty  secret.  They  were  com- 
pelled to  point  out  the  spot  where  the  body  had  been  concealed. 
England,  of  course,  could  not  allow  one  of  her  noblest  sons  to 
lie  in  so  ignominious  a  grave.  The  body  was  at  once  removed 


24  ILLUSTRIOUS   SHOEMAKERS. 

to  London  by  express  order  of  Her  Majesty  Queen  Anne,  and 
laid  in  the  most  honorable  grave  the  nation  had  to  give — 

"  In  the  great  minster  transept, 
Where  the  lights  like  glories  fall, 
And  the  organ  rings  and  the  sweet  choir  sings 
Along  the  emblazoned  wall."  * 

*  Sir  Cloudesley  Shovel  sat  for  several  years  a£  member  of  Parlia- 
ment for  the  city  of  Kochester.  In  the  Guildhall  of  that  city  there 
is  an  interesting  portrait,  representing  the  gallant  sailor  as  Rear- 
Admiral.  A  tablet  states  that  the  hall  was  painted  and  decorated  by 
his  desire  and  at  his  expense,  1695-6.  The  portrait  from  which  our 
engraving  is  taken  is  by  Michael  Dahl,  and  was  originally  at  Hampton 
Court.  It  was  presented  by  George  IV.  in  1824  to  Greenwich  Hospital. 
Sir  C.  Shovel  at  the  time  of  his  death  was  one  of  the  governors  of 
Greenwich  Hospital. 


JAMES   LACKINGTON 


James   ILacfcington, 

SHOEMAKER    AND    BOOKSELLER. 


Sutor  Ultra  Crepidam  Feliciter  Ausus. 

— Latin  Motto,  Quoted  on  Frontispiece  to 
' * Lackingtorfs  Memoirs" 


I.    LACKIXGTON, 

Who  a  few  years  since  began  Business  with  five  Pounds, 
Now  sells  one  Hundred  Thousand  Volumes  Annually. 

— From  Frontispiece  to  First  Edition  of  "Memoirs 
and  Confessions"  1791-92. 


"  I  will  therefore  conclude  with  a  wish,  that  my  readers  may  enjoy  the 
feast  with  the  same  good  humor  with  which  I  have  prepared  it.  ... 
Those  with  keen  appetites  will  partake  of  each  dish,  while  others,  more 
delicate,  may  select  such  dishes  as  are  more  light  and  better  adapted  to 
their  palates ;  they  are  all  genuine  British  fare ;  but  lest  they  should  be  at 
a  loss  to  know  what  the  entertainment  consists  of,  I  beg  leave  to  inform 
them  that  it  contains  forty-seven  dishes  of  various  sizes,  which  (if  they  cal- 
culate the  expense  of  their  admission  tickets]  they  will  find  does  not  amount 
to  twopence  per  dish ;  and  what  I  hope  they  will  consider  as  immensely 
valuable  (in  compliance  with  the  precedent  set  by  Mr.  Farley,  a  gentleman 
eminent  in  the  culinary  science),  a  striking  likeness  of  their  Cook  into  the 
Bargain. 

"  Ladies  and  Gentlemen,  pray  be  seated ;  you  are  heartily  welcome,  and 
much  good  may  it  do  you." — From  Preface  to  Lackingtoii's  "Memoirs  and 
Confessions,"  published  1826, 


JAMES  LACKINGTON. 

ONE  of  the  most  successful  booksellers  of  the  last  century 
was  James  Lackington,  whose  enormous  place  of  business  at 
the  corner  of  Finsbury  Square,  London,  was  styled  somewhat 
grandiloquently  "  The  Temple  of  the  Muses."  A  flag  floated 
proudly  over  the  top  of  the  building,  and  above  the  principal 
doorway  stood  the  announcement,  no  less  true  than  sensa- 
tional, "  The  Cheapest  Bookshop  in  the  World. "  Lackington 
was  an  innovator  in  the  trade,  and  had  introduced  methods 
and  principles  of  doing  business  which  at  first  awaked  the  ire 
of  the  bookselling  fraternity,  but  were  at  length  generally 
adopted,  thus  inaugurating  a  new  era  in  the  history  of  this  im- 
portant business.  His  name  cannot  be  omitted  from  any  com- 
plete history  of  booksellers,  and  it  is  none  the  less  deserving 
of  a  place  in  the  category  of  illustrious  shoemakers  ;  for  Lack- 
ington commenced  life  as  a  shoemaker,  and  for  some  time 
after  he  had  entered  on  bookselling  speculations  continued  to 
work  at  the  humble  trade  to  which  he  had  served  an  apprentice- 
ship. 

When  Lackington  was  about  forty-five  years  of  age,  and  had 
made  a  considerable  fortune  in  the  bookselling  trade,  he  wrote 
and  published  a  singular  book,  in  which  he  narrated  the  princi- 
pal events  in  his  life,  under  the  form  of  "  Letters  to  a 
Friend."  This  book  bears  the  title  "  Memoirs  and  Confes- 
sions," and  is  certainly  one  of  the  most  remarkable  autobiog- 
raphies ever  presented  to  the  world.  What  portion  of  its  con- 
tents may  be  referred  to  by  the  term  "  memoirs"  as  distin- 
guished from  "  confessions"  it  is  impossible  to  say,  but  cer- 
tain it  is  that  there  are  many  things  in  the  book  which  its 
author  would  have  done  well  to  blot  as  soon  as  they  were 
written,  and  of  which  he  was  no  doubt  heartily  sorry  and 
ashamed  in  after-life.  Among  the  worst  of  these  were  his 
strictures  and  reflections  on  the  Wesleyan  Methodists,  to  whom 
he  had  belonged  in  early  life,  and  from  whom  he  had  received 
no  small  benefit,  temporal  as  well  as  spiritual.  When  the 
second  edition  of  his  memoirs  came  to  be  printed  in  1803,  his 
character  had  undergone  a  happy  change.  He  then  saw 


30  ILLUSTRIOUS   SHOEMAKERS. 

things  in  a  different  light,  and  made  full  and  complete  ac- 
knowledgment of  the  faults  which  marked  the  first  edition  ; 
expressed  in  very  decided  albeit  very  conventional  terms  his 
faith  in  Christian  truth,  and  his  debt  of  obligation  to  the  relig- 
ious people  whom  he  had  so  sadly  maligned.  But  words 
were  not  enough  to  satisfy  his  ardent,  thorough-going  nature. 
His  benefactions  to  the  Wesleyan  Society  were  very  consider- 
able, and  he  seemed  toward  the  close  of  his  life  to  have  found 
great  satisfaction  in  making  the  best  use  of  the  ample  means  at 
his  disposal.  With  all  his  faults  he  was  an  estimable  man, 
honest,  truthful,  and  generous.  He  was  never  ashamed  of  his 
lowly  birth  and  humble  apprenticeship,  nor  turned  his  back  on 
his  poor  relations,  but  ever  sought  them  out  and  helped  them 
when  he  had  the  power  to  do  so.  His  success  in  business  was 
owing  to  his  shrewd  common-sense,  his  rare  insight  into  char- 
acter, his  good  judgment  as  to  the  public  taste  and  require- 
ments, his  capital  method  of  assorting  and  classifying  his  stock 
and  strict  keeping  of  accounts,  his  courageous  yet  prudent  pur- 
chases, and  his  strict  adherence  to  a  few  sound  maxims  of 
economy  and  thrift.  None  but  a  man  of  original  and  uncom- 
mon powers  of  mind  could  have  launched  out  on  new  specula- 
tions and  adventures  as  Lackington  did  with  the  same  uniform 
and  certain  success,  and  none  but  a  man  of  good  sense  and 
lofty  feeling  would  have  been  proof  against  the  ill  effects 
which  so  often  attend  on  success.  There  is  a  touch  of  vanity 
in  his  memoirs,  it  is  trne,  but  it  is  not  the  vanity  of  a  man 
who  is  vain  and  does  not  know  it  ;  lie  is  quite  conscious  of  his 
egotism,  and  indulges  in  it  with  thorough  good-humor  as  a 
hearty  joke.  He  was  rather  fond  of  display,  kept  a  town- 
house  and  a  country-house  when  he  could  afford  it,  and  set  up 
a  "  chariot,"  as  the  phrase  went  in  those  days,  and  liveried 
servants.  Yet  it  was  not  many  men  in  his  position  who  would 
have  taken  for  a  motto  to  be  painted  on  the  doors  of  his  car- 
riage the  plain  English  words  which  express  the  principle  on 
which  his  business  had  been  made  to  bear  such  wonderful  results. 
"  But,'7  he  remarks,  "  as  the  first  king  of  Bohemia  kept  his 
country  shoes  by  him  to  remind  him  from  whence  he  was  taken, 
I  have  put  a  motto  on  the  doors  of  my  carriage  constantly  to  re- 
mind me  to  what  I  am  indebted  for  my  prosperity,  viz., 

"  SMALL    PROFITS    DO    GREAT    THINGS." 

The  Lackington  family  had  been  farmers  in  the  parish   of 
Langford,    near    Wellington,    in    Somersetshire.     They    were 


JAMES   LACKINGTOST.  31 

members  of  the  Society  of  Friends,  and  held  a  respectable 
position  in  the  locality.  For  some  cause,  not  fully  explained  in 
the  memoirs,  James  Lackington's  father  was  apprenticed  to  a 
shoemaker  at  Wellington.  He  made  an  imprudent  marriage, 
and  for  a  time  forfeited  his  father's  approval  and  favor  ;  but 
when  the  good-wife  proved  herself  to  be  a  very  worthy  and 
industrious  woman,  the  old  man  relented  and  set  his  son  up  in 
business.  This,  however,  was  of  no  advantage  to  him  ;  in 
fact,  it  proved  his  ruin.  He  might  have  remained  a  steady 
and  hard-working  man,  bringing  up  his  children  honorably,  if 
he  had  remained  a  journeyman.  The  position  of  a  master  pre- 
sented temptations  that  were  too  much  for  his  weak  disposi- 
tion. Lackington's  own  words  will  best  describe  his  unhappy 
circumstances  in  youth  and  the  character  of  his  father.  "  I 
was  born  at  Wellington,  in  Somersetshire,  on  the  31st  of 
August  (old  style),  1746.  My  father,  George  Lackington,  was 
a  journeyman  shoemaker,  who  had  incurred  the  displeasure  of 
my  grandfather  for  marrying  my  mother,  whose  maiden  name 
was  Joan  Trott.  .  .  .  About  the  year  1750,  my  father  having 
several  children,  and  my  mother  proving  an  excellent  wife,  my 
grandfather's  resentment  had  nearly  subsided,  so  that  he  sup- 
plied him  with  money  to  open  shop  for  himself.  But  that 
which  was  intended  to  be  of  very  great  sendee  to  him  and  his 
family  eventually  proved  extremely  unfortunate  to  himself  and 
them  ;  for  as  soon  as  he  found  he  was  more  at  ease  in  his  cir- 
cumstances he  contracted  a  fatal  habit  of  drinking,  and  of 
course  his  business  was  neglected  ;  that  after  several  fruitless 
attempts  of  my  grandfather  to  keep  him  in  trade,  he  was, 
partly  by  a  very  large  family,  but  more  by  his  habitual  drunk- 
enness, reduced  to  his  old  state  of  a  journeyman  shoemaker. 
Yet  so  infatuated  was  he  with  the  love  of  liquor,  that  the  en- 
dearing ties  of  husband  and  father  could  not  restrain  him  :  by 
which  baneful  habit  himself  and  family  were  involved  in  the 
extremest  poverty  ;  so  that  neither  myself,  my  brothers,  nor 
sisters,  are  indebted  to  a  father  scarcely  for  anything  that  can 
endear  his  memory,  or  cause  us  to  reflect  on  him  with  pleas- 
ure. ' ' 

James,  as  the  oldest  child  in  the  family,  fared  for  a  time 
rather  better  than  the  rest.  He  was  sent  to  a  dame-school  and 
began  to  learn  to  read  ;  but  before  he  could  learn  anything 
worth  knowing,  his  mother,  who  was  obliged  to  maintain  her 
children  as  best  she  could,  found  it  impossible  to  pay  the  two- 
pence per  week  for  his  schooling.  For  several  years  his  time 


32  ILLUSTRIOUS   SHOEMAKERS. 

was  divided  between  nursing  his  younger  brothers  and  sister* 
and  running  about  the  streets  and  getting  into  mischief.  At 
the  age  of  ten  he  began  to  feel  a  desire  to  do  something  to  earn 
a  living.  His  first  venture  in  this  way  showed  his  ability  and 
gave  some  promise  of  his  success  as  a  man  of  business.  Hav- 
ing noticed  an  old  pieman  in  the  streets  whose  method  of  sell- 
ing pies  struck  the  boy  as  very  defective,  the  boy  was  con- 
vinced that  he  could  do  the  work  much  better.  He  made 
known  his  thoughts  to  a  baker  in  the  town,  who  was  so  pleased 
with  the  lad's  spirit  that  he  at  once  agreed  to  take  the  little 
fellow  into  the  house  and  employ  him  in  vending  pies  in  the 
streets,  if  his  father  would  grant  permission.  This  was  soon 
obtained.  In  this  queer  enterprise  young  Lackington  met  with 
remarkable  success.  He  says  :  "  My  manner  of  crying  pies, 
and  my  activity  in  selling  them,  soon  made  me  the  favorite  of 
all  such  as  purchased  halfpenny  apple-pies  and  halfpenny  plum- 
puddings,  so  that  in  a  few  weeks  the  old  pie  merchant  shut  up 
his  shop.  I  lived  with  this  baker  about  twelve* or  fifteen 
months,  in  which  time  I  sold  such  large  quantities  of  pies, 
puddings,  cakes,  etc.,  that  he  often  declared  to  his  friends  in 
my  hearing  that  I  had  been  the  means  of  extricating  him  from 
the  embarrassing  circumstances  in  which  he  was  known  to  be 
involved  prior  to  my  entering  his  service. " 

Such  a  story  is  a  sufficient  indication  of  character.  It  ex- 
hibits the  two  qualities  which  distinguished  him  as  a  man — 
good  sense  and  courage.  Another  story  of  his  boyhood  is 
worth  telling  for  the  same  reason.  He  was  about  twelve  years 
of  age  when  he  went  one  day  to  a  village  about  two  miles  off, 
and  returning  late  at  night  with  his  father,  who  had  been 
drinking  hard  as  usual,  they  met  a  group  of  women  who  had 
turned  back  from  a  place  called  Rogue  Green  because  they  had 
seen  a  dreadful  apparition  in  a  hollow  part  of  the  road  where 
some  person  had  been  murdered  years  before.  Of  course  the 
place  had  been  haunted  ever  since  !  The  women  dared  not  go 
by  the  spot  after  what  they  had  seen,  and  were  returning  to 
the  village  to  spend  the  night.  Lackington  and  his  father 
laughed  at  the  tale,  and  the  dauntless  boy  engaged  to  walk  on 
in  front  and  go  up  to  the  object  when  they  came  near  it  in 
order  to  discover  what  it  was.  He  did  so,  keeping  about  fifty 
yards  ahead  of  the  company  and  calling  to  them  to  come  on. 
Having  walked  about  a  quarter  of  a  mile,  the  object  came  in 
sight.  "  Here  it  is  !"  said  he.  "  Lord  have  mercy  on  us  !" 
cried  they,  and  were  preparing  to  run,  ' i  but  shame  prevented 


JAM  US    LACKIXGTOX.  »13 

them."  Making  a  long  file  behind  him,  the  order  of  proced- 
ure of  course  being  according  to  the  degree  of  each  person's 
courage,  they  moved  on  with  trembling  steps  toward  the  ghost. 
Although  the  boy's  "  hat  was  lifted  off  his  head  by  his  hair 
standing  on  end,"  and  his  teeth  chattered  in  his  mouth,  he  was 
pledged  in  honor  and  must  go  on.  Coming  close  to  the 
dreaded  spectre,  he  saw  its  true  character — "  a  very  short  tree, 
whose  limbs  had  been  newly  cut  off,  the  doing  of  which  had 
made  it  much  resemble  a  giant."  The  boy's  pluck  was  the 
talk  of  the  town,  and  he  "  was  mentioned  as  a  hero." 

His  merits  as  a  pie  vender  had  made  him  a  reputation,  and 
now  an  application  was  made  to  his  father  to  allow  James  to 
sell  almanacs  about  the  time  of  Christmas  and  the  New  Year. 
He  rejoiced  immensely  in  this  occupation  and  drove  a  splendid 
trade,  exciting  the  envy  and  ire  of  the  itinerant  venders  of 
Moore,  Wing,  and  Poor  Robin  to  such  a  degree  that  he  speaks 
of  his  father's  fear  lest"  th'ese  poor  hawkers,  who  found  their 
occupation  almost  gone,  should  do  the  daring  young  interloper 
some  grievous  bodily  harm.  4<  But,"  he  says,  "  I  had  not  the 
least  concern  ;  and  as  I  had  a  light  pair  of  heels,  I  always 
kept  at  a  proper  distance. ? ' 

At  the  age  of  fourteen  he  was  bound  for  seven  years  to 
Mr.  Bowden  of  Taunton,  a  shoemaker.  The  indentures  made 
Lackington  the  servant  of  both  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Bowden,  so 
that,  in  case  of  the  death  of  the  former,  the  latter  might  claim 
the  service  of  the  apprentice.  The  Bowdens  were  steady, 
religious  people  who  attended  what  Lackington  calls  "  an 
Anabaptist  meeting,"  i.e.,  we  presume,  a  Baptist  chapel,  for 
the  Baptists  long  bore  the  opprobrious  epithet  which  was  first 
given  to  them  in  Germany  and  Holland  at  the  time  of  the  Ref- 
ormation. The  Baptists  of  Taunton  in  1760  seem  to  have 
been  a  dull,  lifeless  class  of  people,  if  we  may  judge  from  the 
type  presented  in  the  family  of  the  quiet  shoemaker  with 
whom  James  Lackington  went  to  live.  Yet  they  were  on  a  par 
with  the  vast  majority  of  churches,  established  or  non-estab- 
lished, in  that  age  of  religious  apathy  in  England.  The  boy 
accompanied  the  family  twice  on  the  Sabbath  to  the  "  meet- 
ing," and  heard,  yet  not  heard,  sermons  full  of  sound  moral- 
ity, but  devoid  of  anything  like  vigorous,  soul-searching,  and 
soul-converting  gospel  truth,  and  delivered,  withal,  in  the  flat- 
test and  most  spiritless  manner.  The  ideas  of  the  family  were 
as  circumscribed  as  their  library,  and  that  was  small  and 
meagre  enough,  in  all  conscience.  It  may  be  worth  while  to 


34  ILLUSTRIOUS    SHOKMAKKKS. 

give  an  inventory  of  its  contents.  It  will  cover  only  a  line  or 
two  of  our  space,  and  will  be  of  some  use  to  those,  perhaps, 
who  are  apt  to  mourn  their  own  poverty  as  regards  books,  and 
their  small  advantages,  though,  perchance,  they  may  have  ac- 
cess to  free  libraries  or  cheap  subscription  libraries,  or  may 
be  able  to  buy  or  borrow  all  they  could  find  time  to  peruse  if 
only  they  had  the  wish  to  read.  Imagine  a  youth  with  any 
taste  for  literature  living  in  a  sleepy  town  like  Taunton  in 
1760,  and  looking  over  his  masters  bookshelves  and  finding 
there  a  school-size  Bible,  44  Watts7  Psalms  and  Hymns,"  Foot's 
44  Tract  on  Baptism,"  Culpepper's  4t  Herbal,"  the  "  History 
of  the  Gentle  Craft,"  an  old  imperfect  volume  of  receipts  on 
Physic,  Surgery,  etc.,  and  the  44  Ready  Reckoner."  Bowden 
was  an  odd  character,  evidently.  One  of  his  strange  customs 
is  thus  described  :  "  Every  morning,  at  all  seasons  of  the  year 
and  in  all  weathers,  he  rose  about  three  o'clock,  took  a  walk  by 
the  river's  side  round  Trenchware  fields,  stopped  at  some  place, 
or  other  to  drink  half  a  pint  of  ale,  came  back  before  six 
o'clock  and  called  up  his  people  to  work,  and  went  to  bed 
again  about  seven." 

44  Thus,"  says  Lackington,  4<  was  the  good  man's  family 
jogging  easily  and  quietly  on,  no  one  doubting  but  he  should 
go  to  heaven  when  he  died,  and  every  one  hoping  it  would  be 
a  good  while  first." 

The  visit  of  "  one  of  Mr.  Wesley's  preachers"  led  to  the 
conversion  of  the  two  sons  of  Lackingtori's  employer,  and  set 
the  young  apprentice  on  a  train  of  thought  and  inquiry  which 
eventually  led  him  also  to  cast  in  his  Jot  with  the  Methodists. 
He  was  then  about  sixteen  years  of  age,  and  had  so  little  knowl- 
edge of  reading  that  he  gladly  paid  the  three  halfpence  per 
week  which  his  mother  allowed  him  as  pocket-money  to  one  of 
the  young  Bowdens  for  instruction.  Yet  he  had  at  this  time 
no  literary  taste,  and  no  thought  beyond  the  limited  round  of 
devotional  reading,  which  consisted  chiefly  of  the  Bible,  and 
the  tracts,  sermons,  and  hymns  of  the  Wesleys.  His  desire  to 
hear  the  Methodist  preachers  was  so  great  at  this  time,  that 
one  Sunday  morning,  when  his  mistress  had  locked  the  door 
to  prevent  his  going  out  for  this  purpose,  he  jumped  out  of  the 
bedroom  window,  fondly  imagining  that  the  words  of  the  ninety- 
first  Psalm,  the  eleventh  and  twelfth  verses,  which  he  had  just 
been  reading,  would  be  sufficient  guarantee  of  his  safety  in 
perpetrating  such  an  act  of  rashness  and  folly.  The  last  three 
years  of  his  apprenticeship  were  spent  in  the  service  of  his 


JAMES   LACKIXGTOX.  35 

master's  widow,  Mr.  Bowden  having  died  when  Lackington 
liad  served  about  four  years.  When  he  was  just  twenty-one, 
and  about  six  months  before  the  expiration  of  his  time,  a  severe 
contest  for  the  representation  of  Taunton  in  Parliament  took 
place,  and  the  friends  of  two  of  the  candidates  purchased  his 
freedom  from  Mrs.  Bowden's  service  in  order  to  secure  both 
his  vote  and  his  services.  The  scenes  of  excitement  and  dissi- 
pation into  which  he  was  thrown  at  this  time  unsettled  his 
mind,  and  for  a  time  entirely  ruined  his  religious  character. 
The  election  over,  he  went  to  live  at  Bristol,  and  lodged  in  a 
street  called  Castle  Ditch,  with  a  young  man  named  John 
Jones,  a  maker  of  stuff  shoes,  who  led  him  into  dissipation. 
Jones,  however,  had  been  pretty  well  educated,  and  managed 
to  awaken  in  Lackington's  mind  a  desire  for  more  knowledge 
than  he  then  possessed.  He  was,  indeed,  wofully  ignorant, 
had  no  idea  of  writing,  and  when  he  began  to  feel  a  thirst  for 
general  reading,  confesses  that  he  dared  not  enter  a  book- 
seller's shop  because  he  did  not  know  the  name  of  any  book  to 
%sk  for.  His  friend  Jones  picked  up  at  a  bookstall  a  copy  of 
Walker's  "  Paraphrase  of  Epictetus,"  which  seems  to  have 
charmed  the  young  shoemaker  immensely,  and  to  have  turned 
him  for  a  time  into  a  regular  stoic. 

The  taste  for  reading  once  awakened,  he  soon  grew  weary  of 
a  life  of  sin  and  folly.  One  evening  he  turned  into  a  chapel 
in  Broadmead  to  hear  Mr.  Wesley,  who  was  preaching  there. 
The  old  fire  of  religious  enthusiasm  was  once  more  enkindled, 
and  burned  as  fiercely  as  ever.  His  companions  were  soon 
brought  to  join  the  Wesleyan  Society,  and  for  a  time  the  little 
knot  of  shoemakers  working  together  lived  a  life  of  intense  re- 
ligious devotion,  working  hard  and  singing  hymns  or  holding 
religious  conversation  all  day,  reading  the  works  of  leading 
evangelical  divines  during  the  greater  part  of  the  night,  and 
seldom  allowing  themselves  more  than  three  hours'  sleep. 

The  religious  was  combined  with  the  philosophic  mind.  He 
bought  copies  of  such  books  as  Plato  on  the  "  Immortality  of 
the  Soul,"  Plutarch's  "  Lives,"  the  "  Morals  of  Confucius," 
etc.;  and,  speaking  of  this  time,  he  says  :  "  The  pleasures  of  ' 
eating  and  drinking  I  entirely  despised,  and  for  some  time 
carried  the  disposition  to  an  extreme.  The  account  of  Epicurus 
living  in  his  garden  at  the  expense  of  about  a  halfpenny  per 
day,  and  that  when  he  added  a  little  cheese  to  his  bread  on 
particular  occasions  he  considered  it  as  a  luxury,  filled  me  with 
raptures.  From  that  moment  I  began  to  live  on  bread  and  tea, 


36  ILLUSTRIOUS   SHOEMAKERS. 

and  for  a  considerable  time  did  not  partake  of  any  other  viand, 
but  in  that  I  indulged  myself  three  or  four  times  a  day.  My 
reasons  for  living  in  this  abstemious  manner  were  in  order  to 
save  money  to  purchase  books,  to  wean  myself  from  the  gross 
pleasures  of  eating,  drinking,  etc.,  and  to  purge  my  mind  and 
make  it  more  susceptible  of  intellectual  pleasures." 

Leaving  Bristol  in  1769,  he  lived  for  a  year  at  Kingsbridge, 
Devonshire,  where  he  worked  as  a  maker  of  stuff  and  silk 
shoes.  In  1770  he  went  back  to  Bristol,  and  lodged  once 
more  with  his  old  friends,  the  Joneses.  At  the  end  of  that 
year  he  married  Nancy  Smith,  an  old  sweetheart,  whom  he  had 
fallen  in  love  with  seven  years  previously,  "  being  at  Farmer 
Gamlin's  at  Charlton,  four  miles  from  Taunton,  to  hear  a 
Methodist  sermon."  Nancy  was  dairymaid  then,  and  was  ac- 
counted handsome  ;  she  was  a  devout  Methodist,  and  an 
amiable,  industrious,  thrifty  woman.  But  they  were  wretch- 
edly poor  at  the  time  of  their  marriage,  and  had  to  go  and 
live  in  lodgings  at  half  a  crown  a  week.  "  Our  finances," 
he  remarks,  *'  were  but  just  sufficient  to  pay  the  expenses 
of  the  (wedding)  day,  for  in  searching  our  pockets  (which  we 
did  not  do  in  a  careless  manner),  we  discovered  that  we  had 
but  one  halfpenny  to  begin  the  world  with.  'Tis  true  we  had 
laid  in  eatables  sufficient  for  a  day  or  two,  in  which  time  we  knew 
we  could  by  our  work  procure  more,  which  we  very  cheerfully 
set  about,  singing  together  the  following  strains  of  Dr.  Cotton  : 

'  Our  portion  is  not  large  indeed, 
But  then  how  little  do  we  need  ! 

For  Nature's  calls  are  few. 
In  this  the  art  of  living  lies, 
To  want  no  more  than  may  suffice, 
And  make  that  little  do.' 

"  The  above,  and  the  following  ode  by  Mr.  Samuel  Wesley, 
we  did  scores  of  times  repeat,  even  with  raptures  : 
«  No  glory  I  covet,  no  riches  I  want, 
Ambition  is  nothing  to  me  : 
The  one  thing  I  beg  of  kind  Heaven  to  grant 
Is  a  mind  independent  and  free. 

'  By  passion  unruffled,  untainted  by  pride, 
By  reason  my  life  let  me  square  ; 
The  wants  of  my  nature  are  cheaply  supplied, 
And  the  rest  are  but  folly  and  care. 

'  Those  blessings  which  Providence  kindly  has  lent 
I'll  justly  and  gratefully  prize  ; 
While  sweet  meditation  and  cheerful  content 
Shall  make  me  both  healthy  and  wise. 


JAMES   LACKINGTOtf. 

'  How  vainly  through  infinite  trouble  and  strife 
The  many  their  labors  employ  ; 
When  all  that  is  truly  delightful  in  life 
Is  what  all,  if  they  will,  may  enjoy.  '  ' 

Sound  sense  and  true  philosophy  this  ;  and  sorely  did  the 
young  shoemaker  and  his  much-enduring  wife  feel  the  need  of 
such  philosophy  to  hearten  and  console  them  when  four  and  six- 
pence a  week  was  all  they  had  to  spend  on  eating  and  drinking, 
and  when,  as  he  states,  "  strong  beer  we  had  none,  nor  any 
other  liquor  (the  pure  element  excepted);  and  instead  of  tea,  or 
rather  coffee,  we  toasted  a  piece  of  bread,  at  other  times  we 
fried  some  wheat,  which,  when  boiled  in  water,  made  a  tolera- 
ble substitute  for  coffee  ;  and  as  to  animal  food,  we  made  use 
of  but  little,  and  that  little  we  boiled  and  made  broth  of.'7 
That  the  cheerful  sentiments  with  which  they  set  out  in  life 
did  not  fail  them  under  the  stress  of  such  hardships  as  these  is 
sufficiently  shown  by  the  statement  with  which  he  closes  the 
chapter  which  deals  with  this  part  of  his  history  :  "  During 
the  whole  of  this  time  we  never  once  wished  for  anything  that 
we  had  not  got,  but  were  quite  contented,  and  with  a  good 
grace  in  reality  made  a  virtue  of  necessity. " 

After  three  years  Lackington  resolved  to  go  to  London  in 
the  hope  of  meeting  with  better  work  and  pay.  It  was  indeed 
dire  necessity  that  drove  him  to  take  this  step.  Incessant 
suffering  and  semi-starvation  seemed  inevitable  if  he  remained 
in  Bristol.  His  wife  had  been  extremely  ill  almost  from  the 
beginning  of  their  residence  in  the  city,  probably  owing  to  the 
change  from  country  air  and  active  employment  to  the  close 
atmosphere  and  sedentary  occupation  to  which  she  was  now  ac- 
customed. Her  continued  illness  and  his  own  hopeless  state 
of  poverty  drove  him  to  make  the  venture.  Accordingly,  hav- 
ing given  her  all  the  money  he  could  spare,  he  set  off  for  the 
metropolis,  and  arrived  there  in  August,  1774,  with  half  a 
crown  in  his  pocket. 

Once  in  London,  the  tide  of  his  fortune  turned.  He  soon 
found  plenty  of  work  and  got  good  wages.  In  a  month  his 
wife  was  sent  for,  and  the  two  worked  so  industriously  and 
lived  so  economically,  that  before  long  Nancy  changed  her 
cloth  cloak  for  one  of  silk,  and  her  worthy  husband  indulged 
in  the  luxury  of  a  greatcoat,  the  first  he  had  ever  worn.  When 
he  had  been  in  London  about  four  months  he  received  tidings 
of  the  death  of  his  grandfather,  who  had  left  ten  pounds 
apiece  to  each  of  his  grandchildren.  He  was  so  ignorant  of 


38  ILLUSTRIOUS   SHOEMAKERS. 

money  matters  that  he  had  no  notion  of  obtaining  the  money 
except  by  going  down  to  Somersetshire  to  fetch  it,  and  the  sum 
was  accounted  so  prodigious,  that  he  at  once  set  off  to  claim 
his  property  ;  "  so  that,"  he  says,  "  it  cost  me  about  half  the 
money  in  going  down  for  it  and  in  returning  to  town  again. " 
"  With  the  remainder  of  the  money, "  he  adds,  "  we  pur- 
chased household  goods  ;  but  as  we  then  had  not  sufficient  to 
furnish  a  room,  we  worked  hard  and  lived  hard,  so  that  in  a 
short  time  we  had  a  room  furnished  with  our  own  goods  ;  and 
I  believe  that  Alexander  the  Great  never  reflected  on  his  im- 
mense acquisitions  with  half  the  heart-felt  enjoyment  which  we 
experienced  on  this  capital  attainment."  Now  and  then  he 
visited  the  old  bookshops  and  added  a  few  books  to  his  small 
library.  One  Christmas  Eve  he  went  out  with  half  a  crown 
in  his  pocket  to  purchase  the  Christmas  dinner.  Passing  by 
an  old  bookshop,  he  could  not  resist  the  inducement  to  turn  in 
and  look  over  the  stock.  He  intended  to  spend  only  a  few 
pence  on  some  book  ;  but  a  copy  of  Young's  "  Night 
Thoughts,"  which  he  very  much  coveted,  was  so  tempting  a 
prize,  that,  without  hesitation,  he  laid  down  his  half-crown  for 
the  purchase  of  it.  On  returning  home,  he  had  no  slight  diffi- 
culty to  persuade  his  wife  of  "  the  superiority  of  intellectual 
pleasures  over  sensual  gratifications."  "  I  think,"  said  he  to 
his  patient  spouse,  "  that  I  have  acted  wisely  ;  for  had  I 
bought  a  dinner j  we  should  have  eaten  it  to-morrow,  and  the 
pleasure  would  have  been  soon  over  ;  but  should  we  Jive  fifty 
years  longer,  we  shall  have  the  '  Night  Thoughts'  to  feast  upon." 
In  June,  1775,  one  of  his  Wesleyan  friends  looked  in  on 
Lackington  and  his  wife  as  they  sat  at  work  making  boots  and 
shoes,  and  told  them  of  a  "  shop  and  parlor"  which  were  then 
to  let  in  Featherstone  Street,  where  it  was  suggested  Lack- 
ington might  obtain  work  as  a  master-shoemaker.  He  at  once 
fell  in  with  the  proposal,  and  added  that  4<  he  would  sell  books 
also."  He  does  not  seem  to  have  formed  any  intention  of 
bookselling  previous  to  this  interview,  but  the  prospect  of  hav- 
ing a  shop  of  his  own  led  him  to  think  how  easy  and  pleasant 
it  would  be  to  combine  the  two  kinds  of  business.  He  says 
in  his  own  naive  manner  :  t4  When  he  proposed  my  taking  the 
shop,  it  instantly  occurred  to  my  mind  that  for  several  months 
past  I  had  observed  a  great  increase  in  a  certain  old  bookshop, 
and  that  I  was  persuaded  I  knew  as  much  of  old  books  as  the 
person  who  kept  it.  I  further  observed  that  I  loved  books, 
and  that  if  I  could  but  be  a  bookseller,  I  should  then  have 


JAMES    LACKiNGTON.  3^ 

plenty  of  books  to  read,  which  was  the  greatest  motive  I  could 
conceive  to  induce  me  to  make  the  attempt."  His  friend  en- 
gaged to  procure  the  shop,  and  Lackirigton  bought  "a  bag  full  of 
old  books,  chiefly  divinity,  for  a  guinea,"  which,  together  with 
his  own  little  library  and  some  scraps  of  old  leather,  were  worth 
five  pounds.  With  this  stock  he  "  opened  shop  on  Midsummer 
Day,  1775,  in  Featherstone  Street,  in  the  parish  of  St.  Luke." 

He  borrowed  five  pounds  from  a  fund  which  Wesley's  peo- 
ple had  raised  for  the  purpose  of  lending  out  on  a  short  terra 
to  men  of  good  character  who  were  in  need  of  help  in  business 
or  domestic  difficulties.  No  interest  appears  to  have  been  re- 
quired, and  he  states  that  the  money  was  of  great  service  to  him. 
At  this  time  they  lived  in  the  most  economical  and  sparing 
manner,  "  often  dining  on  potatoes,  and  quenching  their  thirst 
with  water,"  for  they  could  not  forget  the  trials  through  which 
they  had  passed, 'and,  haunted  by  the  dread  of  their  recurrence, 
were  determined,  if  possible,  to  provide  against  them. 

After  six  months  his  stock  had  increased  to  £25.  "  This 
stock  I  deemed  too  great  to  be  buried  in  Featherstone  Street  ; 
and  a  shop  and  parlor  being  to  let  in  Chiswell  Street,  No.  46, 
I  took  them."  His  business  in  the  sale  of  books  proved  so 
prosperous,  that,  in  a  few  weeks  after  removing  to  Chiswell 
Street,  he  disposed  of  his  little  stock  of  leather  and  altogether 
abandoned  the  gentle  craft.  At  this  time  his  stock  consisted 
almost  entirely  of  divinity,  and  for  a  year  or  two  he  <l  consci- 
entiously destroyed  such  books  as  fell  into  his  hands  as  were 
written  by  free-thinkers  :  he  would  neither  read  them  himself, 
nor  sell  them  to  others."  He  makes  some  curious  and  saga- 
cious remarks  on  bargain -hunters  who  frequented  his  shop  at 
this  time,  while  his  stock  was  low  and  poor,  and  who  in  their 
craze  after  "  bargains"  often  paid  him  double  the  price  for 
dirty  old  books  that  he  afterward  charged  when  he  had  a 
larger  stock,  and  had  adopted  the  principle  of  selling  every 
book  at  its  lowest  paying  price.  These  people,  he  observed, 
forsook  his  shop  as  soon  as  he  began  to  introduce  better  order 
and  to  appear  "  respectable  !"  *  He  had  not  been  long  in 

*  "  Bibliomaniacs"  will  be  interested  to  learn  the  price  of  certain 
books  at  this  date,  1775.  Lackington  says  :  "  Martyn's  «  Dictionary  of 
Natural  History  '  sold  for  £15  15s ,  which  then  stood  in  niy  catalogue 
at  £4  los.;  Pilkington's  'Dictionary  of  Painters,'  £7  7s.,  usually  sold 
at  three  ;  Francis's  'Horace, '  £2  11s.  At  Sir  George  Colebrook's 
sale  the  8vo  edition  of  the  'Tatler'  sold  for  two  guineas  and  a  half. 
At  a  sale  a  few  weeks  since,  Rapin's  History  in  folio,  the  two  first 
vols.  only,  sold  for  upward  of  £5." 


40  ILLUSTRIOUS    SHOEMAKEUS. 

Chiswell  Street,  before  both  his  wife  and  himself  were  seized 
with  fever.  She  died  and  was  buried  without  his  having  once 
seen  her  after  her  illness.  The  shop  was  left  in  the  care  of  a 
boy,  his  house  was  put  in  charge  of  nurses,  who  robbed  him  of 
his  linen  and  other  articles,  kept  themselves  drunk  with  gin, 
and  would  have  left  him  to  perish.  The  timely  presence  of  his 
sister  saved  his  life,  and  several  Wesleyan  friends  saved  him 
from  ruin  by  locking  up  his  shop,  which  the  nurses  and  boy 
together  would  soon  have  emptied.  Although  he  wrote  the 
whole  story  in  after-years  in  a  vein  of  flippant  sarcasm  and  ir- 
reverence for  religion,  he  was  constrained  to  acknowledge  his 
great  obligation  to  the  friends  whose  religion  prompted  them 
thus  to  act  the  good  Samaritan  to  him  in  his  dire  extremity. 
"  The  above  gentlemen,71  he  says,  '*  not  only  took  care  of  my 
shop,  but  also  advanced  money  to  pay  such  expenses  as  occur- 
red ;  and  as  my  wife  was  dead,  they  assisted  in  making  my 
will  in  favor  of  my  mother."  "  These  worthy  gentlemen,"  he 
adds,  "  belong  to  Mr.  Wesley's  Society  (and  notwithstanding 
they  have  imbibed  many  enthusiastic  whims),  yet  would  they 
be  an  honor  to  any  society,  and  are  a  credit  to  human  nature. ' ' 

In  1776  he  married  Miss  Dorcas  Turton,  a  friend  of  his  first 
wife.  It  seems  to  have  been  her  influence,  to  a  large  extent, 
that  drew  him  away  from  Wesleyanism  and  religion.  She  was 
a  woman  of  considerable  education,  and  a  great  reader,  kindly 
and  affectionate  in  her  disposition,  a  dutiful  daughter  to  her 
aged  and  dependent  father,  whom  she  had  supported  after  his 
failure  in  business  by  keeping  a  school.  But  she  seems  to  have 
had  no  thought  of  religious  truth  as  a  basis  for  character  and 
an  impulse  to  right  conduct,  and  her  absolute  indifference  to 
religion  soon  told  on  the  mind  of  a  sensitive  and  impulsive  man 
like  Lackington.  '*  I  did  not  long  remain  in  Mr.  Wesley's 
Society,"  he  writes,  referring  to  this  same  year  1776,  "  and, 
what  is  remarkable,  I  well  remember  that,  some  years  before, 
Mr.  Wesley  told  his  society  in  Broadmead,  Bristol,  in  my  i 
hearing,  that  he  could  never  keep  a  bookseller  six  months  in 
his  flock." 

Two  years  afterward  Lackington  entered  into  partnership  for 
three  years  with  Mr.  Denis,  an  honest  man,  as  he  is  emphati- 
cally styled,  who  brought  a  considerable  sum  of  money  into 
the  business,  by  means  of  which  the  stock  was  at  once  doubled, 
and  the  sales  vastly  increased.  Lackington  now  proposed  the 
issue  of  a  sale  catalogue,  to  which  his  partner  reluctantly  con- 
sented. Both  partners  were  employed  in  writing  it,  but  the 


JAMES    LACKINGTCm.  41 


larger  share  fell  to  Lackington,  whose  name  alone  appeared  on 
the  title-page.  It  was  issued  in  1779,  and  the  first  week  after 
its  publication  the  partners  took,  what  they  regarded  as  the 
"  large  sum"  of  twenty  pounds.  Denis,  finding  his  money 
pay  better  in  business  than  in  the  Funt&,  invested  a  larger  sum 
in  stock,  but  when  Lackington,  who  according  to  the  terms  of 
the  agreement  was  sole  purchaser,  began  to  buy,  as  his  partner 
thought,  too  largely,  they  had  a  dispute  over  the  matter  and 
dissolved  partnership  on  fripndly  terms  a  year  before  the  term 
of  partnership  had  expired.  Denis,  to  the  end  of  his  life,  re- 
mained friendly  with  Lackington,  and  used  to  call  in  every  day 
on  passing  his  shop  to  inquire  what  purchases  and  sales  he  had 
effected,  and  now  and  then  the  honest  man  lent  his  old  partner 
money  to  help  in  paying  bills. 

In  ]  780  he  resolved  to  give  no  credit  to  any  one,  and  to  sell 
all  his  books  at  the  lowest  price  bearing  a  working  profit.  The 
effect  of  this  new  method  of  doing  business  was  remarkable  in 
many  ways.  Long  credit  seems  to  have  been  common  in  the 
trade  in  those  days,  most  bills  were  not  paid  within  six 
months,  many  not  within  a  twelvemonth,  and  some  not  within 
two  years.  "  Indeed,"  he  adds,-"  many  tradesmen  have  ac- 
counts of  seven  years'  standing  ;  and  some  bills  are  never 
paid  "  (!)  After  recounting  the  disadvantages  of  the  credit  sys- 
tem, he  says  :  "  When  I  communicated  my  ideas  on  this  sub- 
ject to  some  of  my  acquaintances,  I  was  much  laughed  at  and 
ridiculed  ;  and  it  was  thought  that  I  might  as  well  attempt  to 
rebuild  the  Tower  of  Babel  as  to  establish  a  large  business  with- 
out giving  credit.  "  The  offence  given  to  some  old  customers 
was  very  great,  and  for  a  time  he  lost  them,  but  they  soon  re- 
turned on  learning  how  much  lower  his  books  were  now  marked 
than  those  of  other  booksellers.  As  to  others  who  would  only 
deal  on  credit,  he  cared  little  when  he  observed  their  anger, 
very  wisely  remarking  that  il  some  of  them  would  have  been  as 
much  enraged  when  their  bills  were  sent  in  had  credit  been 
given  them."  The  booksellers  themselves  were  not  a  little  an- 
noyed  by  the  innovations  of  the  dauntless  trader,  and  appear  to 
have  said  some  bitter  things  about  him  and  his  stock.  Some 
of  them  were  "  mean  enough  to  assert  that  all  my  books  were 
bound  in  sheep,"  and  he  adds,  in  language  that  does  him 
credit,  "  As  every  envious  transaction  was  to  me  an  additional 
spur  to  exertion,  I  am  therefore  not  a  little  indebted  to  Messrs. 
Envy,  Detraction  &  Co.  for  my  present  prosperity,  though, 
I  assure  you,  this  is  the  only  debt  I  am  determined  not  to  pay." 


42  ILLUSTRIOUS    SHOEMAKERS. 

This  adoption  of  the  u  no  credit"  system  was  the  first  de- 
cided step  toward  Lackington's  wonderful  success  in  business. 
In  five  years  his  catalogues  contained  the  names  of  thirty  thou- 
sand books,  and  these  were  generally  of  a  much  better  descrip- 
tion. ^"* 

The  most  startling  innovation  he  made  in  the  trade  of  book- 
selling, and  the  one  which  led  to  the  largest  amount  of  opposi- 
tion on  the  part  of  his  fellow-tradesmen,  was  in  regard  to  the 
way  of  dealing  with  what  are  called  "  remainders.11  When  a 
bookseller  found  a  book  did  not  sell  well,  it  was  his  custom  to 
put  what  remained  into  a  private  sale,  "  where  only  booksellers 
were  admitted,  and  of  them  only  such  as  were  invited  by 
having  a  catalogue  sent  them."  44  When  first  invited  to  these 
trade-sales,"  he  says,  44  I  was  very  much  surprised  to  learn 
that  it  was  common  for  such  as  purchased  remainders  to  de- 
stroy one  half  or  three  fourths  of  such  books,  and  to  charge 
the  full  publication  price,  or  nearly  that,  for  such  as  they  kept 
on  hand.  For  a  short  time  I  cautiously  complied  with  this 
custom."  But  he  soon  became  convinced  of  the  folly  of  this 
practice,  and  resolved  to  keep  the  whole  stock  of  books  and 
sell  them  off  at  low  prices.  By  this  means  he  disposed  of  hun- 
dreds of  thousands  of  volumes  at  a  small  profit,  which  amounted 
to  a  larger  sum  in  the  end  than  if  he  had  destroyed  three  out 
of  four  and  sold  the  rest  at  the  original  retail  price.  This 
course  made  him  many  enemies  in  the  trade,  who  tried  to  in- 
jure him,  and  even  did  their  best  to  keep  him  out  of  the  sale- 
rooms. It  was,  however,  of  no  avail  :  his  business  increased 
enormously,  his  customers  appreciating  his  method,  whether 
the  booksellers  did  or  not.  He  often  bought  enormously  ; 
44  Wrest  says  he  sat  next  to  Lackington  at  a  sale  when  he  spent 
upward  of  £12,000  in  an  afternoon."  *  It  was  no  uncommon 
thing  for  him  to  buy  several  thousand  copies  of  one  book,  and 
at  one  time  he  had  ten  thousand  copies  of  \Vatts'  Psalms  and 
the  same  number  of  his  Hymns  in  stock.  Of  course  he  found 
it  necessary  to  sell  out  rapidly,  or  business  would  soon  have 
come  to  a  dead-lock  ;  for,  as  he  justly  observes,  4t  no  one  that 
has  not  a  quick  sale  can  possibly  succeed  with  large  numbers." 
14  So  that  I  often  look  back,"  he  remarks,  t4  with  astonish- 
ment at  my  courage  (or  temerity,  if  you  please)  in  purchasing, 
and  my  wonderful  success  in  taking  money  sufficient  to  pay  the 
extensive  demands  that  were  perpetually  made  upon  me,  as 

*"  History  of  Booksellers,"  by  H.  Curvven,  p.  73.     Chatto  &  Windus. 


JAMES   LACKINGTOK.  43 

there  is  not  another  instance  of  success  so  rapid  and  constant 
under  such  circumstances."  It  is  interesting  to  notice  how 
trifling  a  circumstance  it  was  which  led  him  to  adopt  the  plan 
of  selling  every  article  at  the  lowest  remunerative  price. 
"  Mrs.  Lackington  had  bought  a  piece  of  linen  ;  when  the 
linen-draper's  man  brought  it  into  my  shop  three  ladies  were 
present,  and  on  seeing  the  cloth  opened  asked  Mrs.  L. 
what  it  cost  per  yard.  On  being  told  the  price,  they  all 
said  it  was  very  cheap,  and  each  lady  went  and  purchased 
the  same  quantity  ;  those  preces  were  again  displayed  to  their 
acquaintance,  so  that  the  linen-draper  got  a  deal  of  custom  from 
that  circumstance  ;  and  I  resolved  to  do  likewise."  He 
admits  that  he  often  sold  a  '*  great  number  of  articles  much 
lower  than  he  ought,  even  on  his  own  plan  of  selling  cheap, 
yet  that  gave  him  no  concern,"  "  but  if  he  found  out  that  he 
had  sold  any  articles  too  dear,"  he  declares  that  "  it  gave  him 
much  uneasiness."  He  reflects  in  his  own  simple  fashion  : 
"  If  I  sell  a  book  too  dear,  I  perhaps  lose  that  customer  and 
his  friends  forever,  but  if  I  sell  articles  considerably  under 
their  real  value  the  purchaser  will  come  again  and  recommend 
my  shop  to  his  acquaintances,  so  that  from  the  principles  of 
self-interest  I  would  sell  cheap." 

The  following  observations  of  a  shrewd  observer  are  worth 
quoting  as  a  testimony  to  the  change  which  had  begun  to  come 
over  the  minds  of  the  people  of  this  country  in  regard  to  read- 
ing, about  a  hundred  years  ago  :  "  I  cannot  help  observing 
that  the  sale  of  books  in  general  has  increased  prodigiously 
within  the  last  twenty  years  [1791].  According  to  the  best 
estimation  I  have  been  able  to  make,  I  suppose  that  more  than 
four  times  the  number  of  books  are  sold  now  than  were  sold 
twenty  years  since.  The  poorer  sort  of  farmers,  and  even  the 
poor  country  people  in  general,  who  before  that  period  spent 
their  winter  evenings  in  relating  stories  of  witches,  ghosts, 
hobgoblins,  etc.,  now  shorten  the  nights  by  hearing  their  sons 
and  daughters  read  tales,  romances,  etc. ;  and  on  entering  their 
houses,  you  may  see  '  Tom  Jones,'  '  Roderick  Random,'  and 
other  entertaining  books  stuck  up  on  their  bacon-racks,  etc.; 
and  if  John  goes  to  town  with  a  load  of  hay,  he  is  charged  to 
be  sure  not  to  forget  to  bring  home  '  Peregrine  Pickle's  Ad- 
ventures ;'  and  when  Dolly  is  sent  to  the  market  to  sell  her 
eggs  she  is  commissioned  to  purchase  *  The  History  of  Pamela 
Andrews.'  In  short,  all  ranks  and  degrees  now  READ.  But 


44  ILLUSTRIOUS   SHOF.MAKEKS. 

the  most  rapid  increase  of  the  sale  of  books  has  been  since  the 
termination  of  the  late  war.'*  * 

He  tells  the  story  of  his  going  to  reside  in  the  country  and 
set  up  a  carriage,  horses,  and  liveried  servants  in  his  own  quaint 
and  self-complacent  style.  "  My  country  lodging  by  regular 
gradation  was  transformed  into  a  country  house,  and  the  incon- 
veniences attending  a  stage-coach  were  remedied  by  a  chariot.1'' 
This  house  was  taken  at  Merton  in  Surrey.  Referring  to  the 
captious  remarks  of  his  neighbors,  he  says:  "When  by  the 
ndvice  of  that  eminent  physician,  Dr.  Lettsom,  I  purchased  a 
horse  and  saved  my  life  by  the  exercise  it  afforded  me,  the  old 
adage,  '  Set  a  beggar  on  horseback,  and  he'll  ride  to  the  devil,1 
was  deemed  fully  verified  ;  they  were  very  sorry  to  see  people  so 
young  in  business  run  on  at  so  great  a  rate  !"  The  occasional 
relaxation  enjoyed  in  the  country  was  censured  as  an  abomi- 
nable piece  of  pride  ;  but  when  the  carriage  and  servants 
in  livery  appeared,  "they  would  not  be  the  first  to  hurt  a 
foolish  tradesman's  character,  but  if  (as  was  but  too  probable) 
the  docket  was  not  already  struck,  tjie  Gazette  would  soon  settle 
that  point."  It  appears  that  some  of  these  wiseacres  specu- 
lated as  to  the  means  by  which  the  fortunate  bookseller  had 
made  his  large  fortune.  Some  spoke  of  a  lottery  ticket,  and 
others  were  sure  that  lie  must  have  found  a  number  of  "bank- 
notes in  an  old  book  to  the  amount  of  many  thousand  pounds, 
and  if  they  please  can  even  tell  you  the  title  of  the  old  book 
that  contained  the  treasure."  "But,"  he  jocosely  remarks, 
"you  shall  receive  it  from  me,  which  you  will  deem  authority 
to  the  full  as  unexceptionable.  I  found  the  whole  of  what  I 
am  possessed  of,  in — SMALL  PROFITS,  bound  by  INDUSTRY,  and 
clasped  by  ECONOMY." 

It  is  curious  to  notice  the  frank  and  simple  manner  in  which 
he  speaks  of  his  profits,  and  of  the  way  in  which  he  did  his 
business.  "  The  profits  of  my  business  the  present  year  [1791] 
will  amount  to  four  thousand  pounds,"  he  writes,  and  goes  on 
to  say  that  "the  cost  and  selling  price  of  every  book  was 
marked  in  it,  whether  the  price  is  sixpence  or  sixty  pounds, 
is  entered  in  a  day-book  as  they  are  sold,  with  the  price  it 
cost  and  the  money  it  sold  for  ;  and  each  night  the  profits  of 
the  day  are  cast  up  by  one  of  my  shopmen,  as  every  one  of 

*  Articles  of  Peace  with  the  United  States  were  signed  Nov.  30th, 
1782  ;  and  the  Peace  of  Versailles,  between  France,  Spain,  and  Eng- 
land, was  made  Jan.  20th,  1783.  It  is  to  this,  no  doubt,  that  Lacking- 
ton  refers. 


JAMES    LACKINGTON.  45 

them  understands  my  private  marks.  Every  Saturday  night 
the  profits  of  the  week  are  declared  before  all  my  shopmen, 
etc.,  the  week's  profits,  and  also  the  expenses  of  the  week,  then 
entered  one  opposite  another  ;  the  whole  sum  taken  in  the 
week  is  also  set  down,  and  the  sum  that  has  been  paid  for 
books  bought.  These  accounts  are  kept  publicly  in  my  shop, 
and  ever  have  been  so,  as  I  never  saw  any  reason  for  conceal- 
ing them."  He  speaks  in  the  same  letter  of  selling  more  than 
one  hundred  thousand  volumes  annually,  and  adds,  in  his  own 
complacent  manner,  "  I  believe  it  is  universally  allowed  that 
no  man  ever  promoted  the  sale  of  books  in  an  equal  degree  !" 

Lackington  at  length  quitted  Chiswell  Street,  and  took  the 
enormous  building  at  the  corner  of  Finsbury  Square,  which  was 
styled  "  The  Temple  of  the  Muses,"  and  to  which  the  public 
were  invited  as  the  cheapest  bookshop  in  the  world.  He 
declared  in  his  catalogue  that  he  had  half  a  million  of  books 
constantly  on  sale,  "and  these  were  arranged  in  galleries  and 
rooms  rising  in  tiers— the  more  expensive  books  at  the  bottom, 
and  the  prices  diminishing  with  every  floor,  but  all  numbered 
according  to  a  catalogue  which  Lackington  compiled  by  him- 
self." *  His  profits  on  the  first  year's  trade  at  "The  Temple 
of  the  Muses"  amounted  to  £5000.  He  retired  from  business 
in  1798,  having  made  a  large  fortune. 

His  capacity  for  business  was  remarkable.  Until  he  was 
nearly  thirty  years  of  age  he  had  no  opportunity  of  exercising 
it.  But  once  having  given  up  the  gentle  craft,  in  which  he 
was  no  great  proficient,  he  proved  himself  one  of  the  smartest 
and  cleverest  business  men  in  London.  We  can  readily  par- 
don the  simple  vanity  of  the  self-made  and  self-taught  mer- 
chant prince  who  writes  about  his  recently  acquired  chariot 
in  the  following  strain  :  "  And  I  assure  you,  sir,  that  reflect- 
ing on  the  means  by  which  the  carriage  was  procured  adds 
not  a  little  to  the  pleasure  of  riding  in  it.  I  believe  I  may, 
without  being  deemed  censorious,  assert  that  there  are  some 
who  ride  m  their  carriages  who  cannot  reflect  on  the  means  by 
which  they  were  acquired  with  an  equal  degree  of  satisfac- 
tion." For  several  years,  both  before  and  after  he  retired 
from  business,  he  made  a  journey  through  different  parts  of 
England  and  Scotland,  calling  at  the  chief  towns,  such  as  York, 
Leeds,  Edinburgh,  Glasgow,  Carlisle,  Lancaster,  Manchester, 
Bristol,  and  inspecting  the  bookshops.  His  observations  arc 

*  "History  of  Booksellers, "  see  above,  p.  74. 


46  ILLUSTRIOUS   SHOEMAKERS. 

of  the  most  quaint  and  out-of-the-way  character.  At  New- 
castle he  found  nothing  more  remarkable  to  record  than  "the 
celebrated  crow's  nest  affixed  above  the  weather-cock  on  the 
upper  extremity  of  the  steeple  in  the  market-place,'*  and  the 
famous  brank,  an  iron  instrument,  shown  in  the  town-hall,  and 
used  in  olden  time  to  punish  notorious  scolds.  At  Glasgow 
the  most  notable  spectacle,  and  one  that  calls  forth  a  consider- 
able amount  of  remark,  is  that  of  the  washerwomen,  whose 
practice  of  getting  into  their  tubs,  placed  by  the  river-side,  and 
dollying  the  linen  with  their  bare  feet,  awoke  his  profound 
astonishment.  Of  his  visits  to  Bristol  and  the  west  of  Eng- 
land, the  scene  of  his  early  life,  he  gives  the  following  curious 
and  interesting  account:  "In  Bristol,  Exbridge,  Bridgewater, 
Taunton,  Wellington,  and  other  places,  I  amused  myself  in 
calling  on  some  of  my  masters,  with  whom  I  had,  about  twenty 
years  before,  worked  as  a  journeyman  shoemaker.  I  addressed 
each  with,  '  Pray,  sir,  have  you  got  any  occasion?'  which  is 
the  term  made  use  of  by  journeymen  in  that  useful  occupation 
when  seeking  employment.  Most  of  those  honest  men  had 
quite  forgot  my  person,  as  many  of  them  had  not  seen  me 
since  I  worked  for  them,  so  that  it  is  not  easy  for  you  to  con- 
ceive with  what  surprise  and  astonishment  they  gazed  on  me. 
For  you  must  know  that  I  had  the  vanity  (I  call  it  humor)  to 
do  this  in  my  chariot,  attended  by  my  servants  ;  and  on  telling 
them  who  I  was,  all  appeared  to  be  very  happy  to  see  me. 
And  I  assure  you,  my  friend,  it  afforded  me  much  real  pleasure 
to  see  my  old  acquaintances  alive  and  well."  Coming  to  Well- 
ington, his  birthplace  and  home  during  boyhood,  he  says  : 
"  The  bells  rang  merrily  all  the  day  of  my  arrival.  I  was  also 
honored  with  the  attention  of  many  of  the  most  respectable 
people  in  and  near  Wellington  and  other  parts,  some  of  whom 
were  pleased  to  inform  me  that  the  reason  of  their  paying  a 
particular  attention  to  me  was  their  having  heard,  and  now 
having  themselves  an  opportunity  of  observing,  that  I  did  not 
so  far  forget  myself  as  many  proud  upstarts  had  done  ;  and 
that  the  notice  I  took  of  my  poor  relations  and  old  acquaintance 
merited  the  respect  and  approbation  of  every  real  gentleman/' 
Lackington's  kindness  to  his  own  relatives,  and  to  the  poor, 
was  one  of  his  best  qualities.  In  fact,  he  declares  in  1791  that 
he  would  have  retired  from  business  five  jears  previously  if  it 
had  not  been  for  the  thought  of  his  poor  relations,  many  of 
whom  were  helpless,  and  whom  he  felt  bound  to  relieve  and 
protect.  Besides  supporting  his  4i  good  old  mother"  for  many 


JAMES   LACKINGTON.  47 

years,  he  says,  "  I  have  two  aged  men  and  one  aged  woman 
whom  I  support  :  and  I  have  also  four  children  to  maintain  and 
educate  ;  .  .  .  many  others  of  my  relations  are  in  similar  cir- 
cumstances and  stand  in  need  of  my  assistance.'7  He  also 
made  provision  for  the  support  of  the  very  aged  parents  of  his 
first  wife,  Nancy. 

On  abandoning  business  he  left  his  third  cousin  George 
Lackington  at  the  head  of  the  firm,  while  he  and  his  wife  went 
to  live  at  Tiiornbury  in  Gloucestershire,  in  order  to  be  in  the 
neighborhood  of  the  Turtons,  his  wife's  relations.  He  bought 
two  estates  in  Alvestone,  on  one  of  which  was  a  genteel  house, 
where  he  lived  in  good  style  for  several  years.  Here  he  em- 
ployed his  time  in  visiting  the  sick  and  poor,  and  sometimes 
in  preaching.  For  he  had  now  returned  to  the  faith  of  a 
Christian,  and  threw  himself  with  his  accustomed  ardor  into 
all  kinds  of  religious  work.  His  contrition  for  the  severe 
and  ungracious  things  he  had  said  of  the  Wesleyans  in  the  first 
editions  of  his  "  Memoirs"  was  evidently  very  deep.  He  ac- 
knowledges in  plain  terms  that  he  owed  to  them  all  his  early 
advantages,  and  the  moral  and  mental  awakening  which  opened 
before  him  a  new  path  in  life.  He  says,  in  the  introduction 
to  his  last  edition  of  his  book,  "  If  I  had  never  heard  the 
Methodists  preach,  in  all  probability  I  should  have  been  at  this 
time  a  poor,  ragged,  dirty  cobbler.  .  .  .  It  was  also  through  them 
that  I  got  the  shop  in  which  I  first  set  up  for  a  bookseller. " 

He  built  a  small  chapel  at  Thornbury  on  his  own  estate, 
where  the  Wesleyan  ministers  regularly  officiated.  In  1806  he 
removed  to  Taunton,  where  he  resided  for  about  six  years,  built 
a  chapel  at  a  cost  of  £3000,  adding  £150  a  year  for  the  minister. 

On  the  decline  of  his  health  in  1812,  he  went  to  live  by  the 
seaside  at  Budleigh  Sulterton,  in  Devonshire.  Here  also  he 
erected  a  chapel  which  cost  £2000,  and  endowed  it  with  a 
minister's  stipend  of  £150  per  annum. 

James  Lackington  died  of  paralysis  in  the  seventieth  year  of 
his  age,  on  the  22d  of  November,  1815,  and  was  buried  in  the 
Budleigh  Churchyard.  None  will  deny  the  successful  book- 
seller the  right  to  the  Latin  motto  with  which  he  has  adorned 
the  frontispiece  to  the  first  edition  of  "  Memoirs  and  Confes- 
sions," viz.,  Sator  ultra  crepidam  feliciter  ausus.* 

r  *  •«  The  shoemaker  happily  abandoned  his  last."  It  may  be  interest- 
ing  to  note  that  the  writer's  copy  of  this  curious  book  once  belonged 
to  Henry  Thomas  Buckle,  author  of  "The  History  of  Civilization." 
On  the  fly-leaf  are  memoranda  of  Wesleyan  and  Jonsonian  anecdotes 
which  Buckle  had  evidently  made  for  his  own  use. 


REV.   S.   BRADBURN 


Uratrfcurn, 


THE    SHOEMAKER    WHO    BECAME    THE    PRESIDENT    OF    THE 
WESLEYAN    CONFERENCE. 


"I  was  a  poor  ignorant  cobbler." — Samuel  Bradburn,  Life  of  Samuel 
Bradburn,  p.  227. 

"  During  forty  years  Samuel  Bradburn  was  esteemed  the  Demosthenes 
of  Methodism." — Abel  Stevens,  LL.D.,  quoted  on  title-page  of  Life  of  S.  B. 

"  I  have  never  heard  his  equal ;  I  can  furnish  you  with  no  adequate 
idea  of  his  powers  as  an  orator;  we  have  not  a  man  among  us  that  will 
support  anything  like  a  comparison  with  him.  ...  I  never  knew  one 
with  so  great  a  command  of  language." — Dr.  Adam  Clarke. 

"  The  generous  and  noble-minded  Samuel  Bradburn,  whose  ability  as  a 
public  speaker  was  all  but  unrivalled." — Rev.  Thomas  Jackson,  President 
of  the  Wesleyan  Conference. 


SAMUEL  BRADBURN. 

IN  the  winter  of  1740  the  press-gang  men  were  busy  at  their 
abominable  work  in  most  of  the  maritime  and  inland  towns  of 
England,  and,  among  other  places,  Chester  seems  to  have  sent 
certain  unwilling  recruits  to  make  up  the  rank  and  file  of  the 
army,  and  replenish  the  navy  of  His  Majesty  King  George  II. 
Many  are  the  tales  of  cruelty  which  belong  to  this  miserable 
period  in  the  history  of  our  army  and  navy.  Thousands  of 
able-bodied  men  were  carried  away  by  main  force  from  their 
peaceful  occupations,  from  home  and  friends,  and  everything 
that  was  dear  to  them,  and  compelled  to  do  duty  for  their 
country  in  foreign  climes.  Sons,  husbands,  fathers  of  families, 
steady,  honest,  industrious,  law-abiding  citizens,  or  worthless 
waifs  and  strays,  it  mattered  not — all  who  might  be  of  service, 
and  could  be  easily  caught,  were  seized  and  hurried  off  to  the 
nearest  military  or  naval  depot,  and  were  soon  lost  sight  of  by 
their  distressed  relations,  and  were,  perhaps,  never  heard  of 
again  until  their  names  were  reported  in  the  list  of  killed  and 
wounded  in  battle.  Now  and  then  the  life  of  enforced  military 
or  naval  service  was  tolerable  and  even  pleasant  from  a  sol- 
dier's or  sailor's  point  of  view  and  ended  happily  enough  with 
an  honorable  discharge  and  pension.  A  wretched  beginning 
had  not  always  a  wretched  course  and  a  miserable  ending,  for 
the  Briton  of  those  days  was  a  much-enduring  creature,  and 
had  strong  notions  about  "  serving  his  country,"  and  soon 
learned  to  tolerate  and  even  enjoy  a  condition  of  things  which, 
to  say  the  least,  was  unjustifiable  and  tyrannical. 

An  incident  connected  with  the  life-story  of  the  subject  of 
this  sketch  will  illustrate  some  of  the  worst  features  of  the 
system  referred  to,  and  show  the  sort  of  hardship  and  injustice 
to  which  "  the  free  and  noble  sons"  of  Britain  were  exposed 
up  to  a  time  almost  within  the  memory  of  men  still  living. 
Two  men  sat  drinking  and  chatting  in  a  friendly  manner  in  an 
ale-house  in  Chester  one  night  early  in  the  year  1740.  It  does 
not  seem  that  either  of  them  was  the  worse  for  liquor,  or  that 
anything  unpleasant  had  passed  between  them  to  spoil  the 
pleasure  of  their  intercourse.  In  fact,  the  two  men  had  known 


54  ILLUSTRIOUS   SHOEMAKERS. 

each  other  years  before,  and  both  seemed  glad  to  renew  their 
acquaintance.  The  younger  of  the  two  was  only  twenty- one 
years  of  age,  and  had  been  married  but  a  few  days  previously 
to  a  young  woman  of  nineteen  summers,  to  whom  he  was 
deeply  attached.  After  staying  as  long  as  he  deemed  expedi- 
ent he  rose  to  go  home,  when  to  his  amazement  the  pretended 
"  friend"  and  old  acquaintance  turned  upon  him  with  the 
words,  '*  You  shall  not  leave  this  room  to-night  ;  you  have 
now  no  master  but  the  king,  and  you  must  serve  him,  as  you 
have  taken  his  money."  Guessing  what  was  meant,  the  poor 
fellow  felt  in  his  pocket  and  found  that  his  companion  had 
secretly  slipped  three  guineas  into  it  as  king's  bounty.  It 
was  vain  for  the  enraged  and  distracted  young  man  to  throw 
the  money  on  the  floor,  and  declare  he  would  none  of  it  nor  the 
king's  service,  that  he  was  but  just  married,  and  had  no  wish 
to  be  a  soldier,  for  armed  men  stood  round  the  door  and  pre- 
vented escape.  It  was  vain  also  to  appeal  to  the  magistrates  of 
that  day,  for  though  they  must  have  been  perfectly  well  ac- 
quainted with  the  nefarious  tricks  of  pressmen  and  recruiting 
officers,  they  accepted  the  evidence  of  the  officer  against  the 
recruit,  and  adjudged  him  a  legal  soldier,  because,  forsooth, 
he  had  received  the  king's  bounty  and  so  enlisted.  Such  was 
the  experience  of  Samuel  Bradburn's  father,  and  in  two  days 
after  the  event  just  narrated  he  was  hurried  off  to  his  regiment, 
without  a  chance  of  saying  good-by  to  his  fiiends  or  making 
any  further  efforts  for  his  own  release.  Their  grief,  and  the 
agony  of  mind  endured  by  the  young  bride,  may  be  imagined. 
She  had  no  choice  but  to  part  from  him,  perhaps  forever  ;  or 
to  get  permission  to  attach  herself  to  the  regiment,  and  follow 
her  husband's  fortunes  as  a  soldier.  No  true  woman  and 
worthy  wife  would  hesitate  long,  and  the  noble-hearted  Welsh 
girl  *  soon  resolved  not  to  leave  her  husband.  The  regiment 
was  ordered  to  Flanders,  and  took  part  in  several  battles,  in  one 
of  which  Bradburn  was  severely  wounded,  and  on  the  conclu- 
sion of  the  war  in  1748  ordered  to  Gibraltar,  where  Samuel  was 
born,  5th  October,  1751,  and  where  he  spent  the  first  twelve 
years  of  his  life. 

The  soldier's  family  numbered  thirteen  children,  and  as  his 
pay  was  but  scanty,  it  may  be  supposed  that  the  education  of 
each  of  its  members  could  not  have  been  a  very  important  or 
costly  affair.  In  short,  we  have  another  story  to  add  to  those 

*  Mrs.  Bradburn  was  the  daughter  of  Samuel  Jones,  of  Wrexham. 


SAMUEL    BRADBURN.  55 

already  told  of  a  life  of  singular  devotedness  and  usefulness 
which  had  no  fair  foundation  of  sound  and  thorough  educa- 
tion. Bradburn  himself  declares  that  he  went  to  school  for 
only  a  fortnight  during  his  twelve  years'  life  at  Gibraltar.  The 
fee  was  a  penny  a  week,  and  on  its  being  raised  to  three  half- 
pence the  boy  was  removed,  for  the  father's  poor  pittance 
would  not  allow  of  the  extra  strain  upon  it  of  a  halfpenny  per 
week.  And  so,  says  the  biographer,  almost  with  an  air  of 
triumph,  "  the  education  of  one  of  the  greatest  modern  pulpit 
orators  cost  only  twopence!'''' 

Bradburn's  father  appears  to  have  been  a  remarkably 
thoughtful  and  exemplary  sort  of  man  for  a  soldier,  in  those 
days.  Though  he  never  united  with  the  Methodists,  he  was 
much  attached  to  them,  and  had  derived  great  profit  from  their 
preaching  at  the  camp  in  Flanders.  His  children  were 
brought  up  in  a  strictly  religious  manner,  always  going  to  ser- 
vice on  Sunday,  and  being  compelled  to  read  a  daily  portion 
of  Scripture,  and  repeat  a  Scripture  lesson  from  week  to  week. 
According  to  his  light,  he  did  his  best  to  bring  his  children  up 
well  ;  and  one  of  them,  at  all  events,  profited  by  his  training, 
for  Samuel  became  very  thoughtful  and  serious,  and  was  ac- 
counted, by  his  neighbors,  one  of  the  best  boys  in  the  town. 

On  his  discharge  from  the  army  Bradburn  went  to  live  in 
the  old  city  from  which  he  had  been  so  cruelly  carried  away 
about  twenty-three  years  before.  Samuel  was  then  nearly  thir- 
teen years  of  age,  and  a  situation  was  soon  found  for  him  as  an 
out-door  apprentice  to  a  shoemaker,  to  whom  he  was  bound  for 
eight  years.  Brought  up  under  the  influences  of  Methodism, 
and  accustomed  to  listen  to  a  class  of  preachers  who  had  done 
more  than  any  others  to  awaken  and  keep  alive  the  flames  of 
religious  revival  and  zeal,  young  Bradburn's  mind  was  always 
more  or  less  under  the  influence  of  deep  religious  conviction. 
His  history,  as  a  youth,  presents  the  most  astonishing  contrasts 
of  religious  fervor  and  sinful  excess.  Yet  his  worst  moods  did 
not  last  long,  and,  however  far  he  went  in  the  way  of  transgres- 
sion, his  consciousness  of  the  evil  of  sin  never  left  him,  and  he 
had  always  sufficient  moral  sensibility  left  to  make  him  pro- 
foundly miserable  when  he  dared  to  reflect.  Acts  of  daring 
wickedness,  and  defiant  or  profane  language,  only  served  as  a 
cover  to  a  troubled  heart  and  a  restless  conscience.  The  story 
of  his  early  life,  with  its  alternate  seriousness  and  folly,  anx- 
iety about  his  soul's  welfare  and  mad  recklessness,  reads  won- 
derfully like  that  of  John  Bunyan.  How  like  the  records  of 


56  ILLUSTRIOUS    SHOEMAKERS. 

the  life  of  the  Bedford  tinker  are  these  entries  in  the  diary  of 
the  Chester  shoemaker  :  "  One  evening,  being  exceedingly  cast 
down,  and  finding  an  uncommon  weight  upon  my  spirits,  I 
went  to  preaching,  and  while  Mr.  Guilford  was  describing  the 
happiness  of  the  righteous  in  glory,  my  heart  melted  like  wax 
before  the  fire.  In  a  moment  all  that  heaviness  was  removed, 
and  the  love  of  God  was  so  abundantly  shed  abroad  in  my 
heart,  that  I  could  scarcely  refrain  from  crying  out  in  the 
preaching-house."  .  .  .  "  When  preaching  was  over,  I  went 
into  a  place  near  St.  Martin's  Churchyard,  which  adjoined  the 
preaching-house,  and  there  I  poured  out  my  soul  before  the 
Lord  in  prayer  and  praise,  and  continued  rejoicing  in  God  my 
Saviour  most  of  the  night. "  lie.  was  then  less  than  fourteen 
years  of  age  ;  his  companions  at  the  work-room  were  of  a  god- 
less sort,  and  after  a  few  months'  enjoyment  of  mental  peace 
and  joy,  their  injurious  influence  began  to  tell  upon  him.  By 
degrees  he  abandoned  his  prayerful  habits,  and  surrendered 
himself  to  the  power  of  evil,  until  at  length  he  "  became  ac- 
quainted with  the  vilest  of  the  vile,"  and  imbibed  their  spirit 
and  followed  their  example.  To  what  depths  he  sank  the  fol- 
lowing sentences  from  his  diary  will  show  :  "  It  is  impossible 
to  express  the  feelings  of  my  mind,  on  some  occasions  during 
this  apostasy  from  God  ;  especially  once,  when  one  of  the 
greatest  reprobates  I  ever  knew  was  constrained  to  own  that  he 
was  shocked  to  hear  me  swear  such  oaths  as  I  often  did.*  .  .  . 
For  a  moment  I  felt  a  degree  of  compunction,  but  gave  away 
to  despair  and  drowned  the  conviction."  The  reproof  which 
Banyan  received  under  similar  circumstances  led  him  to  drop 
the  practice  of  swearing  ;  but  Bradburn  went  on  in  his  evil 
ways  as  resolutely  as  ever.  For  several  years  he  seems  to  have 
led  a  reckless  life,  joining  in  vicious  company,  indulging  a  pas- 
sion for  "gaming,"  or  gambling,  to  such  an  extent  that  he 
would  even  go  to  bed  and  rise  and  dress  again  when  the  rest  of 
the  household  were  asleep,  in  order  to  go  out  through  the 
window  and  join  his  gambling  and  betting  companions.  At 
last  he  became  so  enamoured  of  sinful  follies  that  he  snatched 

*  This  incident  will  remind  readers  of  the  following  account  given 
by  Bunyan  of  a  similar  incident  in  his  early  life  :  • '  One  day,  as  I  was 
standing  at  my  neighbor's  shop -window,  and  there  cursing  and  swear- 
ing, after  my  wonted  manner,  there  sate  within  the  woman  of  the 
house  and  heard  me,  who,  though  she  was  a  loose  and  ungodly  wretch, 
protested  that  I  cursed  and  swore  at  such  a  rate  that  she  trembled  to 
hear  me.  ...  At  this  reproof  I  was  silenced  and  put  to  secret  shame, 
and  that  too,  as  I  thought,  before  the  God  of  heaven." 


SAMUEL   BBADBUKN.  57 

the  opportunity,  which  a  few  words  of  complaint  from  his 
father  afforded,  to  take  offence  and  leave  home,  "  in  order  to 
go  and  lodge  with  some  abandoned  young  men,  in  order  to 
have  his  full  swing  without  being  curbed  by  any  one."  His 
wages  were  but  small,  and  as  he  took  half  of  them  home  he  had 
but  a  small  pittance  to  live  upon  :  yet  such  was  his  craze  at  this 
time  for  bad  company  and  "  gaming,"  that  he  lived  often  for 
two  days  on  a  penny  loaf,  and  went  in  rags  rather  than  confess 
his  error  to  his  parents  and  ask  their  aid.  One  good  quality 
kept  him  from  utter  ruin  at*  this  time,  and  it  seems  to  have 
been  the  only  one  that  remained  in  a  lively  state.  He  speaks 
of  "  the  affection  he  had  for  his  mother,  whom  he  still  loved  as 
his  own  soul."  He  could  not  endure  her  tears  and  tender  re- 
proofs, and  left  his  home  in  order  that  he  might  not  have  to 
suffer  the  constant  reproach  of  her  good  character  and  loving 
entreaties.  To  such  lengths  will  a  passion  for  sinful  amuse- 
ments drive  even  a  youth  of  sensitive  nature  and  generous  dis- 
position. Nothing  can  be  more  deplorable  than  the  account 
he  gives  of  his  sinful  infatuation  at  this  the  worst  period  of  his 
youthful  career.  "  I  spent  almost  a  twelvemonth  in  this  truly 
pitiable  way  of  life,  and  during  that  time  do  not  remember  en- 
joying one  satisfactory  moment.  My  clothes  were  now  almost 
worn  out,  and  my  wages  were  not  sufficient  to  supply  me  with 
more  ;  yet,  such  was  my  folly,  I  still  persisted  in  the  same  way, 
glorying  even  in  my  shame,  till  my  life  seemed  nearly  finished, 
and  the  measure  of  my  iniquity  almost  full  ;  and,  to  all  appear- 
ance, there  was  but  a  step  betwixt  me  and  everlasting  death." 
At  eighteen  years  of  age  this  miserable  course  of  sin  came  to 
an  end.  Bradburn  was  led  "  by  the  hand  of  Providence  to 
work  in  the  house  of  a  Methodist."  He  had  about  this  time, 
also,  become  so  weak  and  ailing  in  health,  as  the  result  of  his 
pernicious  habits,  that  he  was  compelled  to  yield  to  his  parents' 
entreaties  to  go  and  live  at  home.  Good  example,  kind  words, 
and  wise  counsel,  combined  with  the  beneficial  effects  of  sepa- 
ration from  his  old  companions,  soon  began  to  tell  upon  his 
conscience.  As  might  be  expected,  the  sense  of  sin,  when 
once  it  was  awakened  in  him,  was  most  intense.  It  was  no 
wonder  that  such  a  youth  as  Samuel  Bradburn  should  have 
44  experiences"  which  men  of  a  milder  temperament  are  strangers 
to,  and  cannot  perhaps  appreciate.  After  he  had  mused  for  a 
time,  and  thought  upon  his  ways,  he  became  suddenly,  and,  as 
it  seemed  then,  most  unaccountably  convinced  of  sin,  and  led 
to  cherish  the  most  anxious  concern  to  find  peace  with  God. 


58  ILLUSTRIOUS   SHOEMAKERS. 

u  One  evening,"  he  writes  in  liis  diary,  "  at  the  close  of  the 
year  1769,  while  I  was  making  a  few  cursory  remarks  on  the 
season,  and  looking  at  some  decayed,  flowers  in  a  garden  ad- 
joining the  house  I  worked  in,  I  was  suddenly  carried,  as  it 
were,  out  of  myself  with  the  thought  of  death  and  eternity. 
.  .  .  My  sins  were  set  as  in  battle  array  before  me,  particu- 
larly that  of  ingratitude  to  a  good  and  gracious  God.  This 
caused  my  very  bones  to  tremble,  and  my  soul  to  be  horribly 
afraid.  Hell  from  beneath  seemed  moved  to  meet  me.  .  .  . 
The  effects  of  those  convictions  were  such  that  I  could  scarcely 
reach  home,  though  but  a  little  way  off.  I  went  to  bed,  but 
found  no  rest.  I  sunk  under  the  weight  of  my  distress,  gave 
myself  up  to  despair,  and  for  some  time  lost  the  use  of  my 
reason."  For  several  days  the  poor  sin -stricken  youth  lay  as 
if  in  a  high  fever,  and  raved  of  judgment  and  perdition.  It 
was  three  months  ere  he  entered  into  a  state  of  quiet,  firm,  in- 
telligent, Christian  faith,  bringing  peace  and  rest  to  his  miml. 
His  excellent  and  godly  master  helped  him  somewhat  during 
this  long  and  terrible  struggle  in  the  "  slough  of  despond." 
Several  "  evangelists,"  in  the  character  of  gospel  ministers, 
pointed  out  the  way  of  life  to  him,  but  they  were  not  of  so 
much  service  as  might  have  been  expected.  A  *'  roll  which  he 
carried  in  his  hand,"  on  which  was  written,  "  The  Door  of 
Salvation  Opened  by  the  Key  of  Regeneration,"  was  of  great 
value  in  showing  the  way  to  the  blessedness  he  sought.  In 
fact,  it  was  during  the  reading  of  this  little  treatise  on  the  life 
of  faith  that  his  spirit  first  seemed  to  hear  the  divine  words, 
"  Peace, -be  still."  There  could  be  no  mistake  about  the  young 
shoemaker's  conversion.  Account  for  it  as  men  'might,  the 
change  was  marvellous,  and  infinitely  beneficial,  as  we  shall  see, 
no  less  to  his  neighbors  than  to  himself  ;  for  Samuel  Bradburn 
was  intensely  social,  and  bound  to  influence  his  friends  in  one 
way  or  another,  as  well  as  to  be  influenced  by  them.  It  was 
impossible  for  him  to  remain  inactive  when  a  great  impulse 
moved  within  him.  The  desire  to  go  out  and  speak  of  the  joy 
he  had  found,  and  the  means  by  whioh  he  had  found  it,  soon 
became  a  ruling  passion.  It  is  the  desire  which  makes  the 
philanthropist,  the  preacher,  the  missionary.  The  language  in 
which  he  attempts  to  describe  that  indescribable  joy  of  the  re- 
newed heart  is  but  another  reading  of  the  old  gospel  truth  : 
"  If  any  man  be  in  Christ  he  is  a  new  creature  :  old  things  are 
passed  away  ;  behold,  all  things  are  become  new."*  Alluding 

*  2  Cor.  5  :  17. 


SAMUEL    BRADBURN.  59 

to  the  reading  of  the  little  book  above  mentioned,  he  says  : 
**  Such  an  unspeakable  power  accompanied  the  words  to  my 
soul,  that,  being  unable  to  control  myself,  I  rose  from  my  seat 
and  went  into  the  garden,  where  I  had  spent  many  a  melan- 
choly hour  ;  but,  oh,  how  changed  now  !  Instead  of  terror 
and  despair  I  felt  my  heart  overflowing  with  joy,  and  my  eyes 
with  grateful  tears.  My  soul  was  in  such  an  ecstasy  that  my 
poor  emaciated  body  was  as  strong  and  active  as  I  ever  remem- 
ber it,  and  not  at  that  time  only,  for  the  strength  and  activity 
remained.  I  had  now  no  fear  of  death,  but  rather  longed  to 
die,  knowing  that  the  blessed  Jesus  was  my  Saviour  ;  that  God 
was  reconciled  to  me  through  Him  ;  that  nothing  but  the 
thread  of  life  kept  me  from  His  glorious  presence.  Now  the 
whole  creation  wore  a  different  aspect.  The  stars  which  shone 
exceeding  bright  appeared  more  glorious  than  before.  Such 
was  my  happy  frame  that  I  imagined  myself  in  the  company 
of  the  holy  angels,  who,  I  believed,  were  made  more  happy  on 
my  account,  and  doubtless  those  ministering  spirits  did  feel  new 
degrees  of  joy  on  seeing  so  vile  a  sinner,  so  wretched  a  prodigal, 
come  home  to  the  arms  of  his  heavenly  Father.*  O  Thou  eternal 
God  !"  he  exclaims,  "  Thou  transporting  delight  of  my  soul  ! 
preserve  and  support  me  through  life,  that  I  may  at  last  enjoy 
the  heaven  of  love  which  I  then  felt  overpowering  my  spirit. " 

Bradburn  at  once  joined  the  Methodist  Society  at  Chester. 
His  master's  son,  a  boy  of  twelve,  and  many  other  young  peo- 
ple, began  to  attend  the  "  class-meetings"  about  the  same 
time.  Among  his  work-fellows,  also,  there  were  some  who 
rejoiced  in  the  light  which  now  filled  young  Bradburn's  soul, 
and  their  conversation  and  hymn-singing  while  at  work,  and 
their  union  in  prayer  before  quitting  the  workroom  at  the  close 
of  the  day,  made  the  new  time  a  perpetual  Sabbath,  and  the 
shoemaker's  room  "  a  perfect  paradise."  In  March,  1770, 
after  the  usual  period  of  probation,  he  was  admitted  to  full 
membership,  and  received  what  the  Methodists  call  "  his  first 
ticket."  He  was  not  long  in  discovering,  as  every  one  else 
has  done  in  similar  circumstances,  that  the  change,  though 
genuine,  was  not  complete.  An  outburst  of  passion,  and  a 
growing  desire  after  disputation  on  theological  matters,  in 
which  he  found  himself  contending  for  mastery  rather  than 
truth,  gave  him  to  see  that  a  sound  and  secure  religious  charac- 
ter is  a  matter  of  growth  and  culture  and  can  only  be  main- 

*  There  was  surely  a  Scriptural  reason  for  this  feeling.  See  Luke 
15  :  7,  10,  and  Heb.  1  :  15. 


00  ILLUSTRIOUS    SHOEMAKERS. 

tained  by  watchfulness  and  prayer,  and  the  careful  formation 
of  habits  of  piety.  And  as  Thomas  a  Kempis  finely  says, 
"  Custom  is  overcome  by  custom,"  so  Bradburn  found  it,  and 
in  order  to  put  a  bar  between  his  spirit  aand  possible  tempta- 
tions, changed  his  way  of  living,  his  companions,  and  his 
books.  One  day,  when  John  Wesley  was  administering  the 
Lord's  Supper  in  the  little  chapel  at  Chester,  Bradburn  was 
seized  with  the  idea  that  he  must  become  a  preacher.  For  a 
long  time  he  strove  hard  to  drive  it  from  his  mind.  But  the 
more  he  did  so  the  more  it  seemed  to  possess  him.  His  sense 
of  unfitness  for  so  great  an  office  as  that  of  the  preacher,  his 
exalted  notions  of  the  sac  redness  and  responsibility  attaching 
to  the  office,  and  his  own  deepening  conviction,  which  nothing 
could  resist,  that  it  was  his  duty  before  God  to  devote  himself 
to  the  work,  made  him  for  a  time  positively  wretched.  He 
tried  the  effect  of  change  of  residence  upon  his  feelings  in  the 
matter.  He  was  now  twenty  years  of  age,  and  out  of  his 
time.  But  on  visiting  his  relations  at  Wrexham,  he  found 
that  they  and  their  friends  of  the  Wesleyan  Society,  to  whom 
he  was  introduced,  had  a  common  feeling  that  such  a  young 
man  ought  surely  to  exercise  his  gifts  as  a  speaker.  In  answer 
to  their  entreaties  he  spoke  several  times  in  their  meetings,  and 
thus  made  his  first  start  in  public  speaking.  Still  the  question 
of  preaching  was  left  unsettled,  and  disturbed  his  mind  night 
and  day.  It  became  a  positive  burden  to  him — "  the  burden 
of  the  Lord,"  indeed,  and  no  power  of  his  own  could  remove 
it.  Six  months  after  this  brief  visit  to  Wrexham,  he  obtained 
a  situation,  and  went  to  reside  in  Liverpool,  where  he  fell  in 
with  people  much  to  his  mind,  who  were  exceedingly  kind  to 
him.  They,  however,  no  sooner  came  to  know  him  than  their 
opinion  was  strongly  expressed  to  the  same  purport  as  that  of 
his  friends  in  Chester  and  Wrexham.  In  four  months  he  left 
Liverpool  and  returned  home,  the  great  life-question  still  upon 
his  mind.  He  dare  not  settle  it,  in  one  way  or  the  other  ;  all 
he  could  do  was  to  resolve  to  live  as  near  to  God  as  possible, 
commit  his  way  unto  Him,  and  submissively  wait  for  the  direc- 
tion of  Divine  providence.  In  this  condition  of  mind  he 
passed  the  rest  of  the  year  1772.  At  the  beginning  of  the  fol- 
lowing year  he  found  employment  at  Wrexham,  and  there  took 
np  his  abode  in  the  congenial  society  of  his  relations  and  relig- 
ious friends.  Soon  after  this  the  event  occurred  which  decided 
the  severe  and  agonizing  mental  struggle  to  which  he  had  been 
subjected  for  the  last  twelve  months,  and  determined  the  whole 


SAMUEL   BRADBURN.  61 

course  of  his  life,  and  the  employment  of  liis  rare  gifts  as  a 
preacher  of  the  Gospel.  On  Sunday,  February  7th,  1773,  the 
preacher  for  the  day  failed  to  appear.  Young  Bradburn  was 
invited  by  the  leaders  of  the  congregation  to  take  the  service. 
Trembling  from  head  to  foot,  almost  blind  with  fear  and  ex- 
citement, and  casting  himself  on  divine  aid,  he  mounts  the  pul- 
pit stairs.  The  opening  part  of  the  service  gives  him  confi- 
dence, and  when  the  time  for  preaching  comes,  he  is  able  to 
speak  with  much  freedom  and  fervor  to  an  appreciative  and 
thankful  audience.  In  the"  evening  he  is  once  more  asked  to 
occupy  the  pulpit,  and  this  time  he  delivers  a  discourse  which 
is  not  too  long  for  the  hearers,  though  it  lasts  for  more  than 
two  hours.  The  next  week  he  preaches  to  the  same  people 
three  times  ;  and  now  the  question  is  settled,  and  settled,  as 
he  and  his  friends  are  fain  to  believe,  in  a  providential  way  : 
Samuel  Bradburn  is  called  to  be  a  preacher,  and  a  preacher  of 
no  ordinary  power.  He  has  not  waited  all  these  long  months 
for  nothing.  He  has  not  run  before  he  was  sent.  He  has  not 
tarried  in  the  desert  like  Moses,  like  Elijah,  like  Saul  of  Tarsus, 
to  learn  the  truth  and  will  of  God,  with  no  beneficial  results. 
He  has  been  called  of  the  Holy  Spirit  to  the  work,  and  to  the 
work  of  preaching  he  must  now  give  himself  and  his  very  best 
powers,  or  a  woe  will  rest  upon  him.  He  and  his  Methodist 
friends  would  not  trouble  themselves  for  one  moment  about  the 
question  of  his  being  a  shoemaker,  or  remaining  a  shoemaker, 
if  he  is  to  become  a  preacher.  One  apostolic  precedent  was  as 
good  as  twelve  to  them  in  a  matter  of  this  kind,  and  Paul  did 
not  cease  to  be  a  tent-maker  when  the  Holy  Ghost  said  to  the 
church  at  Antioch,  "  Separate  me  Barnabas  and  Saul  to  the 
work  whereunto  I  have  called  them."  * 

Soon  after  the  events  just  referred  to,  Bradburn  resolved  to 
go  and  see  the  Rev.  John  Fletcher,  Vicar  of  Madeley  in  Shrop- 
shire, the  friend  of  Lady  Huntingdon,  and  Benson,  and  John 
Wesley.  Fletcher  had  a  reputation  for  piety  and  usefulness 
which  few  men  in  his  day  could  equal  and  none  surpass.  He 
was  a  great  favorite  with  the  followers  of  John  Wesley,  not 
alone  because  of  his  friendship  with  their  leader,  but  on  ac- 
count of  his  saintly  life,  his  evangelistic  zeal,  and  his  rare 
catholicity  of  spirit.  None  worked  more  faithfully  and  dili- 
gently than  he  at  the  College  of  Trevecca  in  Whales,  of  which 
he  was  for  several  years  the  president.  Yet  he  received  no 
emolument  for  his  labors.  "  Fletcher  was  no  pluralist,  for  he 

*  Acts  13  :  2. 


62  ILLUSTRIOUS   SHOEMAKERS. 

did  his  work  at  Trevccca  without  fee  or  reward,  from  the  sole 
motive  of  being  useful."*  It  is  said  of  his  apostolic  work  at 
Madeley,  that  "  the  parish,  containing  a  degiaded,  ignorant, 
and  vicious  population  employed  111  mines  and  iron  works, 
became,  under  his  diligent  Christian  culture,  a  thoroughly 
different  place.  His  public  discourses,  his  pastoral  conversa- 
tions, his  catechising  of  the  young,  his  reproofs  to  the  wicked, 
his  encouragements  to  the  penitent,  his  accessibility  at  all 
hours,  his  readiness  to  go  out  in  the  coldest  night  and  the  deep- 
est snow  to  see  the  sick  or  the  sorrowing,  his  establishment  of 
schools,  and  his  personal  efforts  in  promoting  their  prosperity — 
in  short,  his  almost  unrivalled  efforts  in  all  kinds  of  ministerial 
activity,  have  thrown  around  Madeley  beautiful  associations  not 
to  be  matched  by  the  hills  and  hanging  woods  which  adorn  that 
hive  of  industry. "f  Bradburn  was  lovingly  received  at  the 
Madeley  vicarage,  stayed  for  several  days  with  the  family,  and 
preached  in  one  of  the  rooms  of  the  house  to  a  congregation  of 
villagers.  If  Fletcher  could  not  ask  his  shoemaker  friend  to 
officiate  in  the  church,  seeing  that  he  had  taken  no  holy  orders, 
the  good  vicar  had  no  difficulty  or  scruple  in  regard  to  his 
guest's  preaching  the  Gospel  in  the  house.  On  leaving,  young 
Bradburn  carried  away,  as  a  precious  treasure  of  the  heart,  a 
deep  sense  of  Fletcher's  holy  character,  and  never  forgot  the 
good  man's  characteristic  remark,  "  If  you  should  live  to 
preach  the  gospel  forty  years,  and  be  the  instrument  of  saving 
only  one  soul,  it  will  be  worth  all  your  labor."  Returning 
home,  he  went  on  with  his  work  as  a  shoemaker,  preaching  on 
Sundays  in  the  chapels  at  Flint,  Mold,  Wrexham,  etc.,  until 
the  beginning  of  the  following  year,  when  he  went  to  reside 
with  friends  at  Liverpool.  Here  his  preaching  was  so  much 
enjoyed  by  the  congregations  of  the  "  circuit"  that  he  was 
pressed  to  stay  and  minister  to  them  till  July,  when  it  was 
hoped  that  some  arrangement  might  be  made  by  the  Confer- 
ence in  London  by  which  he  would  be  permanently  and  offi- 
cially appointed  to  labor  among  them.  Although  he  had 
become  somewhat  popular  by  this  time,  and  was  warmly  wel- 
comed wherever  he  went  on  account-  of  his  earnestness  and 
rough  eloquence,  he  was  sometimes  regarded  with  distrust 
because  of  his  youthful  and  unclerical  appearance  and  manner. 
One  good  man,  who  generally  entertained  the  preacher  on  his 

*  See  Benson's  "Life  of  Fletcher." 

f  "  Keligion  in  England  under  Qneen  Anne  and  the  Georges."     By 
John  Stoughton,  D.D.,  vol.  ii.  pp.  158,  159.     Hodder  &  Stoughton. 


SAMUEL   BKADBURN.  63 

visits,  was  so  annoyed  at  the  sight  of  "  a  mere  lad"  "  travel- 
lino-  the  circuit,  that  he  sent  young  Bradburn  to  take  his  meals 
and  sleep  in  the  garret  with  the  apprentices. "  After  the 
morning  sermon,  however,  which  surprised  and  delighted  all 
who  heard  it,  "  he  was  judged  worthy  to  sit  in  the  preacher's 
chair"  at  the  table  of  his  host,  and  at  night  was  allowed  to 
sleep  in  the  "  prophet's  chamber."  In  September  of  that 
year  he  was  not  a  little  surprised  to  find  himself  appointed  by 
the  Conference  as  a  regular  "  travelling  preacher  on  the  Liver- 
pool circuit."  It  was  about  this  time  he  had  his  first  inter- 
view with  John  Wesley.  The  veteran  evangelist's  simple  and 
kindly  manner  affected  the  young  preacher  deeply,  and  his  ad- 
vice was  wonderfully  like  him  :  '*  Beware,"  said  Wesley, 
holding  young  Bradburn  by  the  hand,  <k  beware  of  the  fear  of 
man  ;  and  be  sure  you  speak  flat  and  plain  in  preaching." 

In  these  early  days  of  Methodism,  when  the  denomination 
was  undergoing  the  process  of  rapid  growth,  it  was  impossible 
to  wait  for  men,  to  meet  the  urgent  need  of  the  churches,  who 
had  gone  through  a  regular  process  of  ministerial  education  and 
training.  Such  as  had  the  requisite  character  and  the  gift  of 
speech  were  "  called  out"  and  placed  over  churches  in  a  man- 
ner that  would  not  have  been  tolerated  in  later  times,  when 
colleges  had  come  to  be  established.  Yet  the  work  done  by 
men  of  "Bradburn's  stamp  was  genuinely  apostolic,  and  served, 
under  the  divine  blessing,  to  lay  broad  and  deep  the  founda- 
tions of  that  Wesleyan  denomination  which,  in  the  present 
day,  yields  to  none  of  the  so-called  "  sects"  in  the  culture  and 
moral  power  of  its  ministry.  It  is  not  to  be  supposed  that  the 
fluent  young  shoemaker  was  insensible  to  his  need  of  education. 
The  first  year's  work  in  Lancashire  taxed  his  mental  resources 
severely,  and  set  him  wondering  many  times  whether  he  should 
be  able  to  go  on  preparing  new  sermons  in  order  to  preach 
repeatedly  to  the  same  congregation.  It  was  consequently  an 
immense  relief  to  him  when  the  year  came  to  an  end,  and  he 
found  that  the  Conference  at  Leeds  had  set  him  down  for  an 
entirely  new  field  of  labor,  at  Pembroke,  in  South  Wales.* 

*  Bradburn's  mother  died  during  his  first  year's  ministry.  In  con- 
nection with  this  event  he  mentions  a  circumstance  which  enabled 
him  to  be  resigned  to  the  bereavement,  and  which  many  readers  will 
regard  with  unusual  interest.  ' '  God  spared  her  life,  nearly  twelve 
years,  in  answer  to  a  prayer  which  I  offered  up  when  she  seemed  to  be 
dying,  in  which  I  begged  that  she  might  live  twelve  years  exactly.  I 
was  then  very  young,  and  could  not  bear  the  thought  of  losing  her, 
but  imagined  I  should  be  able  to  part  with  her  after  those  years." 


04  ILLUSTRIOUS   SHOEMAKERS. 

Bradburn  felt  his  poverty  in  more  ways  than  one.  Wcsleyan 
ministers  were  then  but  poorly  paid,  and  men  of  his  generous 
character,  who  found  it  easier  to  give  to  the  needy  than  to 
economize  and  save,  were  often  in  great  straits  for  funds.  On 
his  way  down  to  Pembroke  he  was  reduced  to  his  last  shil- 
ling, and,  but  for  this  meeting  with  Wesley  at  Brecon,  might 
have  found  it  an  awkward  matter  to  reach  his  destination. 
44  Apply  to  me  when  you  want  help,"  said  Wesley  to  his 
friend,  and  very  soon  proved  his  sincerity  by  prompt  assistance 
when  the  young  pastor  made  known  his  straitened  circum- 
stances. The  following  story  is  too  good  to  be  omitted. 
In  reply  to  Bradburn ?s  appeal  Wresley  sent  the  following  short 
letter,  inclosing  several  five-pound  notes  : 

44  DEAR  SAMMY  :  Trust  in  the  Lord,  and  do  good  ;  so  shalt 
thou  dwell  in  the  land,  and  verily  thou  shalt  be  fed. — Yours 
affectionately,  JOHN  WESLEY.  " 

To  which  Bradburn  replied  : 

44  REV.  AND  DEAR  SIR  :  I  have  often  been  struck  with  the 
beauty  of  the  passage  of  Scripture  quoted  in  your  letter,  but  I 
must  confess  that  I  never  saw  such  useful  expository  notes  upon 
it  before. — I  am,  Rev.  and  dear  Sir,  your  obedient  and  grate- 
ful servant,  S.  BRADBURN.  " 

The  year  spent  in  South  Wales  was  happy  and  prosperous, 
and  the  churches  at  Pembroke,  Ilaverfordwest,  and  Carmarthen 
were  greatly  increased  and  well  organized  under  the  care  of 
Bradburn  and  his  colleague.  By  the  Conference  in  1776  he 
was  sent  to  Limerick,  and  from  thence,  in  four  months,  such 
was  the  severity  of  the  strain  upon  his  health,  he  was  removed 
to  Dublin.  Here  he  had  met,  on  first  landing  in  Ireland,  with 
the  young  lady  who  was  afterward  to  become  his  wife.  It 
was  a  case  of  44  mutual  admiration"  and  44  love  at  first  sight." 
Bradburn  was  a  passionate  lover,  and  could  ill  brook  the  delay 
of  two  years  which  had  to  pass  away  before  he  took  the  beauti- 
ful Miss  Nangle  to  his  own  home.  In  one  of  his  anxious 
moods,  when  sick  of  love  and  hope  deferred,  he  rose  from  his 
sleepless  bed  to  pray  for  divine  guidance  and  favor  in  regard  to 
the  serious  business  of  courtship.  It  was  his  custom  to  pray 
aloud,  and  supposing  his  colleague,  who  occupied  the  same 
bed,  to  be  fast  asleep,  he  did  not  balk  his  prayer  in  this 
instance,  finishing  a  fervent  appeal  for  divine  direction  with  the 
simple  words,  44  But,  Lord,  let  it  be  Betsey."  His  bedfellow 


SAMUEL   BRADBURY.  65 

humorously  responded,  "  Amen,"  and  broke  out  into  a  hearty 
laugh  at  poor  Brad  burn's  expense.  John  Wesley,  who  favored 
the  match,  and  generously  interceded  in  his  friend's  behalf, 
both  with  a  much-dreaded  stepmother  and  the  fair  one  her- 
self, conducted  the  marriage  ceremony  in  the  house  of  a 
friend.  He  had  invited  the  bride  and  bridegroom-elect,  and 
Mrs.  Karr  the  stepmother,  "  to  breakfast  with  him  at  Mrs. 
King's,*  the  morning  after  his  arrival,  being  his  birthday  ;  as 
soon  as  she  (Mrs.  Karr)  entered  he  began  the  ceremony  and 
married  us  in  the  parlor.  Pride  would  not  let  her  affront  Mr. 
Wesley,  and  she  was  forced  to  appear  satisfied."  "  Wesley," 
says  Bradburn's  biographer,  •)•  "  more  than  once  took  up 
cudgels  for  his  preachers  when  in  difficulties  of  this  kind,  but 
not  in  such  a  summary  manner." 

Relegated  to  the  Cork  and  Bandon  circuit,  he  had  a  very 
trying  time  of  it  for  about  a  year.  One  of  his  memoranda 
made  at  this  time  gives  us  a  glimpse  of  his  acquirements  from 
his  own  common-sense  point  of  view,  for  Bradburn  was  a 
thoroughly  sensible  and  humble  man,  who  never  yielded  to 
ignorant  flattery  of  his  pulpit  eloquence,  nor  gave  way,  as  some 
self-made  men  and  popular  preachers  have  done,  to  vanity  and 
conceit.  Self-examination  was  with  him  a  genuine  business, 
conducted  in  a  reverent  spirit  and  an  honest  and  altogether 
healthy  fashion.  By  this  means  he  came  to  know  himself  and 
act  accordingly.  Not  many  men  in  his  position  would  have 
written  so  sensibly  as  this:  "  Cork,  March  31st  (1779). — I 
have  read  and  written  much  this  month,  but  sadly  feel  the 
want  of  a  friend  to  direct  my  studies.  All  with  whom  I  have 
any  intimacy,  know  nothing  of  my  meaning  when  I  speak  of 
my  ignorance.  They  praise  my  sermons,  and  consider  me  a 
prodigy  of  learning  ;  and  yet  what  do  I  know  ?  a  little  Latin,  a 
little  philosophy,  history,  divinity,  and  a  little  of  many  things, 
all  of  which  serves  to  convince  me  of  my  own  ignorance  !" 
At  this  time,  and  for  many  years  after,  he  preached  forty  ser- 
mons a  month,  and  sometimes  fifty.  Even  if  they  were  all  old 
sermons,  which  would  not  often  be  the  case,  how  could  a  man 
so  employed  find  time  or  energy  for  close  and  continuous 
study  ?  The  next  four  years  are  spent  at  Keighley,  Bradford, 
and  Leeds  in  Yorkshire.  When  at  Keighley  he  "  travelled" 

*  Bradburn' s  lodgings. 

f  "Life  of  Samuel  Bradburn."  By  T.  W.  Blanshard.  P.  68. 
Elliot  Stock,  1870.  A  most  interesting  biography  of  the  famous  Wes- 
leyan  preacher. 


66  ILLUSTRIOUS   SHOEMAKERS. 

for  a  time  with  Wesley,  and  had  an  opportunity  of  observing 
the  way  in  which  that  sainted  man  wholly  devoted  his  gifts, 
his  time,  and  his  money  to  the  service  of  God  and  his  fellow- 
men.  Wesley's  stipend  from  the  Society  in  London  was  £30 
a  year,  but  the  sale  of  books,  the  generosity  of  the  friends  at 
Bristol,  and  occasional  preaching  fees  and  sundry  legacies, 
brought  his  yearly  income  up  to  £1000  or  £1200  ;  yet  he 
rarely  spent  more  for  himself  than  his  meagre  stipend,  and  reg- 
ularly gave  away  all  the  rest.  "  Thus  literally  having  nothing, 
he  possessed  all  things  ;  and  though  poor,  he  made  many 
rich."  *  At  Leeds,  Bradburn  was  offered  the  pastorate  of  an 
Independent  Church  with  a  greatly  increased  salary,  but  the 
loyal  Methodist  refused  the  tempting  offer.  His  next  appoint- 
ment was  to  Bristol,  where  he  had  the  misfortune  to  lose  his 
darling  Betsey,  who  died  of  decline  in  her  twenty-ninth  year. 
His  colleague  had  suffered  a  similar  bereavement,  and  the  stern 
yet  tender-hearted  Wesley,  then  in  his  eighty-third  year, 
actually  set  off  from  London  "  in  the  driven  snow"  to  go  down 
to  Bristol  and  comfort  the  two  sorrowing  preachers.  Bradburn 
did  not  long  remain  a  widower.  At  Gloucester  he  met  Sophia 
Cooke,  li  the  pious  and  godly"  Methodist  to  whom  Robert 
Baikes  of  Sunday-school  fame  had  spoken  about  the  poor  chil- 
dren in  the  streets,  and  asked  her,  "  What  can  we  do  for 
them  ?"  Miss  Cooke  replied,  "  Let  us  teach  them,  and  take 
them  to  church  !"  The  hint  was  acted  upon,  and  Raikes  and 
Miss  Cooke  "  conducted  the  first  company  of  Sunday  scholars 
to  the  church,  exposed  to  the  comments  and  laughter  of  the 
populace,  as  they  passed  along  with  their  ragged  procession." 
A  better  wife  for  the  earnest  Methodist  preacher  could  not  have 
been  found  than  the  woman  who  thus  showed  her  good  sense, 
her  piety,  and  her  courage,  in  starting  the  Sunday-school 
movement.  In  1786  W^esley  showed  his  appreciation  of  Brad- 
burn's  excellent  qualities  by  getting  him  appointed  to  the 
London  Circuit  in  order  to  have  his  assistance  in  superintending 
the  affairs  of  the  Connection.  Here  he  met  with  Charles 
Wesley,  and,  at  the  time  of  his  death  in  1788,  Bradburn  stood 
by  the  dying  man's  bed  offering  up  earnest  prayer  for  him,  and 
calling  to  his  mind  the  truths  of  that  Gospel  which  he  had  done 
so  much  to  spread  throughout  the  world  by  his  unrivalled 
hymns.  John  Wesley  himself  died  three  years  afterward,  2d 
March,  1791,  and  Bradburn,  then  at  Manchester,  published  a 

*  Bradburn's  Life,  see  above,  pp.  85,  86. 


SAMUEL   BRADBURN.  67 

pamphlet  entitled,  "A  Sketch  of  Mr.  Wesley's  Character,'* 
in  which  he  gave  a  most  interesting  epitome  of  the  chief  points 
in  the  history  and  labors  of  his  father  in  the  Gospel.  Brad- 
burn,  now  looked  upon  as  one  of  the  foremost  men  in  the  Con- 
nection, united  with  eight  others  in  issuing  a  circular  giving  an 
outline  of  policy  for  the  guidance  of  the  Conference  at  its  next 
session.  The  utmost  care  and  wisdom  were  needed  in  order  to 
keep  the  various  elements  of  Methodism  together  ;  and  few 
men  in  those  days  were  more  conspicuous  and  useful  than  Brad- 
burn  in  guiding  the  counsels  of  the  assembled  ministers.  He 
was  elected  to  preach  before  the  Conference  at  its  next  session 
in  Manchester,  and  so  moved  his  audience  by  his  impassioned 
appeal  for  unity  and  loyalty  to  the  good  cause  that  had  now 
lost  its  earthly  leader,  that  all  in  the  chapel  rose  to  their  feet 
in  response  to  his  stimulating  words.  In  1796,  when  stationed 
at  Bath,  he  was  made  secretary  of  the  Conference,  and  held  the 
office  three  years  in  succession.  In  1799  his  brethren  showed 
their  esteem  for  him  by  choosing  him  as  President,  and  thus 
giving  him  the  highest  honor  which  they  had  it  in  their  power 
to  bestow. 

Among  Methodists  Bradburn  is  regarded  as  one  of  the  most 
eloquent  and  powerful  preachers  the  denomination  has  pro- 
duced. He  had  all  the  natural  gifts  of  a  great  orator,  and 
these,  combined  with  fervent  piety  and  a  single  and  lofty  pur- 
pose in  preaching,  invested  his  discourses  with  a  charm  and  an 
influence  rarely  wielded  by  public  speakers.  "  Possessed  of  a 
commanding  figure,  dignified  carriage,  graceful  action,  mellow 
voice,  ready  utterance,  correct  ear,  exuberant  imagination,  an 
astonishing  memory,  and  an  extensive  acquaintance  with  his 
mother  tongue,  he  could  move  an  assembly  as  the  summer 
breeze  stirs  the  standing  corn."*  This  elocutionary  power  was 
not  gained  without  much  care  and  diligent  labor.  He  was  a 
hard  reader,  and  a  most  painstaking  sermonizer,  for  though  he 
never  used  the  manuscript  in  the  pulpit  but  preached  extem- 
pore, after  the  fashion  of  the  times,  he  nevertheless  prepared 
his  discourses  with  great  skill  and  labor.  The  following  sen- 
tences from  his  biography  will  sufficiently  illustrate  this  point,  f 
"  His  own  bold,  easy,  and  correct  English  was  such  as  no  man 
acquires  without  perseverance  in  a  right  use  of  means.  His 
diligence  may  be  inferred  from  one  of  his  reported  sayings  on 
leaving  Manchester — that  he  had  twelve  hundred  outlines  of 

*  Bradburn's  Life,  pp.  177,  178.  f  Ibid.,  pp.  183,  184. 


68  ILLUSTRIOUS    SHOEMAKERS. 

sermons  untouched  (not  used  in  preaching  in  the  circuit)  at  the 
end  of  three  years'  ministrations.  The  result  of  such  endow- 
ments, improved,  with  such  assiduity,  amid  all  the  hindrances 
and  discouragements  of  a  laborious  and  harassing  vocation, 
was,  that  to  be  comprehensive  and  lucid  in  arrangement ;  beau- 
tifully clear  in  statement  or  exposition  ;  weighty,  nervous,  and 
acute  in  argumentation  ;  copious,  various,  and  interesting  in 
illustration  ;  overwhelming  in  pathos  ;  to  wield  at  will  the 
ludicrous  or  the  tender,  the  animating,  the  sublime,  or  the  ter- 
lible — seems  to  have  been  habitually  in  his  power."  The  Rev. 
Richard  Watson,  author  of  the  "  Institutes,"  "  walked 
twenty  milts  to  hear  the  far-famed  Mr.  Bradburn  preach  ;  and 
he  never  lost  the  impression  which  that  distinguished  orator 
produced."  Watson  thus  describes  his  impressions  :  "  I  am 
not  a  very  excitable  subject,  but  Mr.  Bradburn's  preaching 
affected,  my  whole  frame.  I  felt  a  thrill  to  the  very  extremity 
of  my  fingers,  and  my  hair  actually  seemed  to  stand  on  end." 
The  biographer  of  the  Rev.  Jabez  Bunting  says  of  Bradburn  : 
"  His  career  was  brilliant  and  useful  ;  and  perhaps  more  men 
longed,  but  durst  not  try,  to  preach  like  him  than  like  any 
other  preacher  of  his  time.  .  .  .  Bradburn  was  without  excep- 
iion  the  most  consummate  orator  we  ever  heard."  And  the 
author  of  Bradburn's  life  concludes  the  citation  of  a  number  of 
testimonies  with  the  following  strongly  expressed  opinion  of 
his  merits  as  a  pulpit  orator  :  "  Methodism  has  produced  a 
host  of  preachers  renowned  for  pulpit  eloquence.  The  names 
of  Benson,  Lessey,  Watson,  Newton,  Beaumont,  and  others, 
stand  out  in  bold  relief  on  the  page  of  her  history,  but  the 
highest  niche  in  her  temple  of  fame  belongs,  most  unquestion- 
ably, to  SAMUEL  BRADBURN." 

Like  most  men  of  genius  he  had  a  strong  sense  of  humor, 
enjoyed  a  joke  most  heartily,  was  ready  and  pithy  in  repartee, 
and  seldom  at  a  loss  for  spirit  and  tact  in  extricating  himself 
fiom  difficulties.  Many  a  good  story  might  be  told,  did  space 
allow,  in  illustration  of  this  feature  of  his  character.  One  or 
two  must  suffice.  Perhaps  the  smartest  thing  he  ever  did  in 
outwitting  the  early  opponents  of  Methodism  was  done  in  a 
certain  small  town,  in  one  of  his  own  circuits,  where,  in  the 
early  days  of  the  movement,  the  preacher  and  his  friends  had 
often  u  been  driven  off  the  field  by  a  mob,  headed  by  the 
clergyman."  Bradburn  understood  the  state  of  affairs  thor- 
oughly, and  resolved  to  go  down  to  the  parish  &nd  preach 
in  the  open  air.  Notice  of  his  coming  was  duly  forwarded, 


SAMUEL    Bil AUBURN.  69 

and  the  clergyman  ordered  constables  and  others  to  be  in  at- 
tendance at  the  time  and  place  appointed  for  the  service. 
Meanwhile  Bradburn  having  "  provided  himself  with  a  new  suit 
of  clothes,  borrowed  a  new  wig  of  a  Methodist  barber,"  and 
"  went  to  the  place,  put  his  horse  up  at  the  inn,  attended  the 
morning  service  at  church,  placed  himself  in  a  conspicuous 
situation  so  as  to  attract  the  notice  of  the  clergyman,  and,  when 
the  service  was  closed,  he  went  up  to  him  on  his  way  out,  ac- 
costed him  as  a  brother,  and  thanked  him  for  his  sermon.  The 
clergyman,  judging  from  his  appearance  and  address  that  he 
was  a  minister  of  some. note,  gave  him  an  invitation  to  his 
house.  Bradburn  respectfully  declined,  on  the  ground  that  lie 
had  ordered  dinner,  and  expressed  a  hope  that  the  clergyman 
would  dine  with  him  at  the  inn.  He  did  so,  and  Bradburn 
having  entertained  him  until  dinner  was  over  with  his  extraor- 
dinary powers  of  conversation,  managed  to  refer  to  the  open-air 
service  which  was  to  be  held,  and  the  clergyman  stated  his  in- 
tention to  arrest  the  preacher  and  disperse  the  congregation, 
and  asked  Bradburn  to  accompany  him,  which  he  did.  On 
arriving  at  the  appointed  place  they  found  a  large  company 
assembled  ;  and  as  no  preacher  had  made  his  appearance,  the 
clergyman  concluded  that  fear  had  kept  him  away,  and  was 
about  to  order  the  people  to  their  homes  when  Bradburn  re- 
marked that  it  would  be  highly  \mproper  to  neglect  so  favor- 
able an  opportunity  of  doing  good,  and  urged  him  to  preach 
to  them.  He  excused  himself  by  saying  that  he  had  no  ser- 
mon in  his  pocket,  and  asked  Bradburn  to  address  them, 
which,  of  course,  he  readily  consented  to  do,  and  commenced 
the  service  by  singing  part  of  the  hymn  beginning — 

'  Oh,  for  a  thousand  tongues  to  sing 
My  great  Redeemer's  praise,' 

and,  after  praying,  delivered  an  impressive  discourse  from 
Acts  5  : 38,  39,  '  And  now  I  say  unto  you,  Refrain  from  these 
men,  and  let  them  alone  ;  for  if  this  counsel  or  this  work  be 
of  men,  it  will  come  to  nought  :  but  if  it  be  of  God,  ye  cannot 
overthrow  it,  lest  haply  ye  be  found  even  to  fight  against  God.' 
This  not  only  deeply  affected  the  people,  but  so  delighted  the 
clergyman,  that  although  he  knew,  as  the  service  proceeded,  that 
he  had  been  duped,  he  heartily  thanked  Bradburn  for  the  decep- 
tion he  had  practised  on  him,  and  ever  afterward,  to  the  day  of 
his  death,  showed  a  friendly  disposition  toward  Methodism."  * 

*  Bradburn's  Life,  pp.  233-235. 


70  ILLUSTRIOUS   SHOEMAKERS. 

The  same  readiness  of  resource  and  good  humor  wore  shown 
in  the  management  of  the  affairs  of  the  society  in  his  capacity 
as  a  pastor.  On  one  occasion,  when  he  resided  in  Manchester, 
two  ladies,  district  visitors,  went  to  the  house  of  an  old  woman, 
a  member  of  the  society,  who  was  a  laundress,  and  finding  her 
hard  at  work  accosted  her  with  the  remark  :  "  Betty,  you  are 
busy."  "  Yes,  mum/'  said  Betty,  "  as  busy  ;is  the  devil  in  a 
whirlwind  !"  Shocked  by  such  an  indecorous  speech,  the  vis- 
itors threatened  to  report  it  to  Mr.  Bradbuin.  Afraid  of  what 
she  had  .done,  and  the  consequence,  if  it  should  come  to  the 
preacher's  ears,  Betty,  as  soon  as  the  ladies  had  gone  away, 
set  off  by  the  quickest  route  to  see  Mr.  Bradburn  and  relate 
the  whole  affair,  and  thus  anticipate  the  report  from  the  ladies 
themselves.  She  found  Bradburn  "  engaged  in  his  vocation 
as  cobbler  for  his  family."  "  He  listened  to  Betty's  simple 
story,  and  engaged  to  put  the  matter  right,  if  she  would  try  to 
be  more  guarded  in  the  future.  She  had  scarcely  got  clear 
away  when  the  two  ladies  arrived  with  their  melancholy  story 
of  Betty's  irreverence.  They  were  asked  into  the  room,  and 
seeing  him  at  his  somewhat  unclerical  employment,  one  of  them 
observed  quite  unthinkingly,  '  Mr.  Bradburn,  you  are  busy  !  ' 
*  Yes,'  returned  Bradburn,  with  great  gravity,  *  as  busy  as  the 
devil  in  a  whirlwind  ! '  This  remark  from  Betty  was  sufficient- 
ly startling,  but  from  Bradburn  it  was  horrifying.  Seeing 
their  consternation,  he  explained  how  busy  the  devil  was  in 
Job's  days,  when  he  raised  the  whirlwind  which  *  smote  the 
four  corners  of  the  house,'  where  the  patriarch's  children  were 
feasting,  and  slew  them.  It  is,  perhaps,  needless  to  add  that 
the  two  ladies  left  without  mentioning  the  object  of  their 
visit."* 

Hating  the  false  pride  which  leads  *a  man  to  forget  his  hum- 
ble origin,  and  the  canting  way  in  which  some  men  talk  of 
their  sacrifices  in  entering  the  ministry,  he  once  severely  re- 
buked two  young  men  who  made  a  parade  in  company  of  hav- 
ing "  given  up  all  for  the  ministry."  "  Yes,  dear  brethren," 
said  he,  "  some  of  you  have  had  to  sacrifice  your  all  for  the 
itinerancy  ;  but  we  old  men  have  had  our  share  of  these  trials. 
As  for  myself,  I  made  a  double  sacrifice,  for  I  gave  up  for  the 
ministry  two  of  the  best  awls  in  the  kingdom — a  great  sacri- 
fice, truly,  to  become  an  ambassador  of  God  in  the  church,  and 
a  gentleman  in  society  !"  His  ready  wit  was  sometimes  dis- 

*  Bradburn 's  Life,  pp.  228,  229. 


SAMUEL   BRADBURN.  71 

played  like  that  of  Hugh  Latimer,  Dean  Swift,  and  Sydney 
Smith,  in  the  selections  of  texts  for  sermons  on  special  occa- 
sions. Preaching  at  the  opening  of  a  chapel  entirely  built 
with  borrowed  money,  he  took  as  a  text  the  words  of  the 
young  man  to  Elisha  the  prophet  :  *  "  Alas,  master,  for  it 
was  borrowed. "  On  a  snowy  winter's  day,  when  the  congre- 
gation was  very  small,  he  selected  the  words  which  describe  the 
character  of  the  virtuous  woman,  j  "  She  is  not  afraid  of  the 
snow." 

That  Samuel  Bradburn  was  not  perfect  none  will  need  to  be 
told,  yet  it  will  surprise  and  pain  every  one  to  read  that  so 
great  and  good  a  man,  honored  and  beloved  of  his  brethren  for 
many  years,  and  useful  beyond  computation  as  a  preacher, 
should  have  been  "  overtaken  in  a  fault, "  for  which  the  Con- 
ference, in  the  exercise  of  a  rigorous  discipline,  saw  fit  to  sus- 
pend him  for  a  year.  After  the  lapse  of  this  time  he  came 
back  again  to  his  old  position,  penitent  and  humble,  like 
David  or  Peter,  and  like  them  fully  restored  to  the  Divine 
favor.  This  singular  and  melancholy  event  appears  to  have 
been  due  as  much  to  mental  as  moral  derangement,  and  in  a 
short  while,  such  was  the  sincerity  of  his  sorrow  and  the 
blameless  character  of  his  after-life,  his  brethren  were  thankful 
to  forget  it,  and  to  place  him  once  more  in  positions  of  high 
trust  and  honor  in  the  Connection.  The  last  ten  years  of  his 
•  life  were  spent  in  the  important  circuits  of  Bolton,  Bath, 
Wakefield,  Bristol,  Liverpool,  and  East  London.  He  died  in 
London,  July  26th,  1816,  in  the  sixty-sixth  year  of  his  age. 
At  the  time  of  his  decease  the  Conference  was  sitting  in 
London.  As  a  token  of  esteem  and  affection  all  its  members 
joined  in  the  funeral  service  at  the  New  Chapel,  Cit}r  Road. 
He  was  buried  in  Old  Methodist  graveyard,  City  Road,  .by  the 
side  of  his  friend  John  Wesley,  in  the  last  resting-place  of 
many  of  the  fathers  and  founders  of  the  Wesleyan  Connection. 

*  2  Kings  6:5.  f  Proverbs  31  :  21. 


fflSiUltam  ©iffortr, 

FROM    THE    SHOEMAKER'S    STOOL    TO    THE    EDITOR'S    CHAIR. 


"  Not  mine  the  soul  that  pants  not  after  fame — 
Ambitious  of  a  poet's  envied  name, 
I  haunt  the  sacred  fount,  athirst  to  prove 
The  grateful  influence  of  the  stream  I  love." 

—  TheBaviad;  William  Gi/ord. 

"  It  is  on  all  hands  conceded,  that  the  success  which  attended  the 
4  Quarterly '  from  the  outset  was  due,  in  no  small  degree,  to  the  ability  and 
tact  with  which  Gifford  discharged  his  editorial  duties." — Encyclopedia 
Britannica. 

"  I  am  not  more  certain  of  many  conjectures  than  I  am  that  he  never 
propagated  a  dishonest  opinion,  nor  did  a  dishonest  act." — Writer  in  the 
Literary  Gazette. 


WILLIAM  GIFFORD. 

THE  field  of  literature  seems  always  to  have  had  a  special 
charm  for  shoemakers.  If  the  reader  will  glance  for  a  moment 
at  the  list  of  names  given  at  the-  end  of  this  book,  this  fact  will 
be  at  once  apparent.  Half,  or  more  than  half,  the  names 
given  in  that  list  are  in  some  way  or  other  connected  with 
literature.  The  connection  is  but  slight  in  many  instances, 
perhaps,  and  the  reputation  it  conferred  only  local  and  tem- 
porary. Few  of  our  shoemakers,  even  though  we  have 
thought  well  to  style  them  "  illustrious,"  can  be  said  to  have 
made  a  great  and  lasting  name  in  the  world  of  letters  ;  and 
none  of  them  it  must  be  confessed  have  attained  to  first  rank 
as  prose  or  poetical  writers.  But  there  are  worthies  in  our  list, 
associated  alike  with  the  humble  craft  of  shoemaking  and  the 
higher  walks  of  literature,  whose  names  the  world  will  not  will- 
ingly let  die,  and  we  venture  to  think  that  the  subject  of  this 
sketch  is  one  of  the  number. 

William  Gifford  was  the  first  editor  of  the  London  Quar- 
terly Review.  The  high  and  influential  position  held  by  this 
journal  was  mainly  due  in  the  first  instance  to  Gilford's  tal- 
ent and  excellent  management.  The  London  Quarterly  was 
started  in  opposition  to  tlie  famous  Edinburgh  Quarterly ; 
George  Canning,  the  celebrated  statesman,  and  Sir  Walter 
Scott,  the  great  novelist,  being  the  prime  movers  and  early 
patrons  of  the  enterprise,  for  the  Edinburgh,  tinder  the  clever 
management  of  Jeffrey,  and  supported  by  such  writers  as  Sydney 
Smith  and  Brougham,  was  then  too  liberal  in  its  tone  to  suit 
the  taste  of  the  brilliant  Foreign  Secretary  and  his  Tory  friends. 
It  was  no  slight  testimony  to  the  abilities  of  the  man  who  was 
chosen  as  the  first  editor  of  the  new  Quarterly  that  his  election 
should  have  been  cordially  approved  by  the  first  of  Scottish 
novelists,  and  one  of  the  most  influential  of  English  statesmen. 

Gifford  was  the  author  of  two  satirical  poems,  the  "  Baviad" 
and  "  Maeviad,"  directed  against  the  tawdry  and  sentimental 
rhymesters  of  a  certain  school  which  flourished  in  his  day.* 
His  scathing  satire  succeeded  in  putting  an  end  to  their  trash. 

*The  "  Delia  Cruscan  school."     See  below. 


70  ILLUSTKIOUS    SIIOKMAKKIIS. 

Gilford  published  also  a  translation  of  the  Latin  poets,  Juvenal 
and  Persius.  To  the  latter  he  prefixed  the  story  of  his  own 
early  life  as  a  poor  cobbler's  apprentice.  From  this  interesting 
autobiography  the  materials  for  the  following  sketch  have  been 
chiefly  selected.  William  Gilford's  best  title  to  fame  was,  no 
doubt,  his  edition  of  the  "  Early  English  Dramatists" — Ford, 
Massinger,  Shirley,  and  Ben  Jonson.  His  generous  and  able 
vindication  of  Jonson  reflects  credit  both  upon  the  critic  and 
the  poet.  It  should  be  added  that  Gilford's  editorship  of  the 
Quarterly  extended  over  fifteen  years,  and  that  during  the 
whole  of  this  period  he  was  the  writer  of  a  large  number  of  its 
most  able  articles. 

Having  taken  a  glimpse  of  the  work  accomplished  by 
William  Gilford  as  a  critic,  a  scholar,  and  an  editor  in  the  latter 
years  of  his  life,  let  us  turn  to  look  at  his  circumstances  in  boy- 
hood and  youth,  when,  as  a  miserable  cobbler's  apprentice, 
he  began  to  yearn  after  knowledge  and  to  cherish  ambitious 
dreams.  The  contrast  between  the  first  mid  last  scenes  in  the 
drama  of  life  could  hardly  be  more  wonderful  than  that  which 
is  presented  in  the  history  of  the  man  who  passed  from  the 
cobbler's  stool  to  the  editor's  chair. 

William  Gilford  was  born  at  the  small  town  of  Ashbuiton, 
in  South  Devon,  in  1757.  His  father,  who  was  a  man  of 
spendthrift  and  profligate  habits,  died  of  the  effects  of  his  evil 
conduct  before  he  had  attained  the  age  of  forty.  In  twelve 
months  afterward  Gilford's  mother  died,  leaving  William, 
and  a  little  brother  two  years  old,  orphans,  and,  it  would 
seem,  penniless.  As  no  home  could  be  found  for  the  infant, 
he  was  sent  to  the  workhouse.  William,  then  thirteen  years 
of  age,  fell  into  the  hands  of  a  man  named  Carlisle,  who  had 
stood  as  his  godfather,  a  worthless  fellow,  who  had  appropri- 
ated the  few  things  left  by  the  mother,  on  pretence  of  claiming 
them  for  debt.  This  man  put  William  to  school,  where  he 
began  to  show  signs  of  ability  ;  but  he  was  allowed  no  chance 
of  making  progress  ;  for,  at  the  end  of  three  months,  grudging 
the  slight  cost  of  his  tuition,  Carlisle  took  the  boy  from  his 
books  and  playmates,  and  put  him  to  the  plough.  It  was  soon 
found  that  he  was  too  weak  for  such  heavy  work.  Ills  guar- 
dian now  tried  to  get  the  boy  out  of  hand  altogether,  by  send- 
ing him  off  to  Newfoundland  as  an  errand-boy  in  a  grocery 
store.  This  unkind  project,  however,  being  doomed  to  fail- 
ure, it  was  resolved  that  the  troublesome  charge  should  be  got 
rid  cf  bv  making  him  a  sailor. 


WILLIAM   GIFFORD.  7? 

We  give  the  account  of  what  happened  at  this  period  in  his 
own  words  :  ll  My  godfather  had  now  humbler  views  for  me, 
and  I  had  no  heart  to  resist  anything.  He  proposed  to  send 
me  on  board  one  of  the  Tor  bay  fishing-boats.  I  ventured, 
however,  to  remonstrate  against  this,  and  the  matter  was  com- 
promised by  my  consenting  to  go  on  board  a  coaster.  A 
coaster  was  speedily  found  for  me  at  Brixham,  and  thither  I 
went  when  little  more  than  thirteen  years  of  age.  It  will 
easily  be  conceived  that  my  life  was  a  life  of  hardship.  I  was 
not  only  a  ship-boy  on  the  Jngh  and  giddy  mast,  but  also  in 
the  cabin,  where  every  menial  office  fell  to  my  lot.  Yet  if  I 
was  restless  and  discontented  it  was  not.  so  much  on  account  of 
this  as  of  my  being  prevented  reading,  as  my  master  did  not 
possess  a  single  book  of  any  description,  excepting  a  Coasting 
Pilot" 

Gifford  was  on  board  this  vessel  for  about  twelve  months,  a 
time  of  untold  suffering  and  degradation.  In  fact,  his  position 
was  so  deplorable  that  some  women  from  Ash  burton,  who  went 
down  to  Brixham  to  buy  fish,  shocked  to  see  the  boy  running 
about  the  beach  in  ragged  clothes,  spoke  so  plainly  on  their 
return  home  about  the  hardship  of  his  lot,  that  his  godfather 
was  compelled  for  very  shame  to  send  for  him  home  again. 
He  was  once  more  put  to  school,  and  now  made  such  rapid 
strides,  in  arithmetic  that  on  an  emergency  he  was  invited  to 
assist  the  school -master.  He  goes  on  in  his  own  narrative  to 
say  that  these  encouragements  led  him  to  entertain  the  idea 
that  he  might  be  able  to  get  his  own  living  by  teaching,  and  as 
his  first  master  "  was  now  grown  old  and  infirm,  it  seemed  un- 
likely that  he  should  hold  out  above  three  or  four  years,  and  I 
fondly  flattered  myself/'  he  adds,  "  that  notwithstanding  my 
youth  I  might  possibly  be  appointed  to  succeed  him."  It  is 
worth  while  to  notice  that  he  was  but  a  boy  in  his  teens  when 
he  first  began  to  feel  the  noble  spirit  of  ambition  stir  within 
him,  and  to  cherish  the  laudable  desire  to  rely  upon  his  own 
efforts  for  his  maintenance.  It  was  this  lofty  and  self-reliant 
spirit  which  carried  him  past  all  his  difficulties  ;  and,  truth  to 
tell,  no  one  has  ever  done  anything  remarkable  in  the  world 
without  it.  The  youth  who  is  altogether  destitute  of  ambition, 
and  is  ever  on  the  look-out  for  the  help  of  friends,  lacks  the 
first  elements  of  success  in  life.  But  Gifford' s  bravery  and 
persistence  of  mind  had  to  be  severely  tested  before  meeting 
with  their  due  reward. 

Proceeding  with  his  pathetic  story,  he  says  :  "  I  was  about 


78  ILLUSTRIOUS   SHOEMAKERS. 

fifteen  years  of  age  when  I  built  these  castles  in  the  air.  A 
storm,  however,  was  collecting,  which  unexpectedly  burst  upon 
me  and  swept  them  all  away.  On  mentioning  my  plan  to  my 
guardian,  he  treated  it  with  the  utmost  contempt,  and  told  me 
he  had  been  negotiating  with  his  cousin,  a  shoemaker  of  some 
respectability,  who  had  liberally  consented  to  take  me,  without 
fee,  as  an  apprentice.  I  was  so  shocked  at  this  intelligence 
that  I  did  not  venture  to  remonstrate,  but  went  in  sullemn  >> 
and  silence  to  my  new  master,  to  whom  I  was  bound  till  1 
should  attain  the  age  of  twenty-one.  At  this  period  I  had  read 
nothing  but  a  romance  called  '  Parismus,'  a  few  loose  maga- 
zines— the  Bible,  indeed,  I  was  well  acquainted  with  ;  these, 
with  the  4  Imitation  of  Thomas  a  Kempis,'  which  I  used  to 
read  to  my  mother  on  her  death-bed,  constituted  the  whole  of 
my  literary  acquisitions." 

The  account  which  follows  has  few  things  to  equal  it  in  the 
records  of  struggling  genius.  It  will  serve  to  show  how  abject 
and  apparently  hopeless  was  his  condition  as  a  student  at  this 
time  of  his  life,  and  will  show  also,  what  it  may  be  hoped  no 
youth  who  reads  these  pages  will  fail  to  learn,  how  marvellous 
is  the  power  of  energy  and  perseverance  to  triumph  over  appar- 
ently insuperable  obstacles. 

"  I  possessed, "  Gifford  writes,  "  at  this  time  but  one  book 
in  the  world  ;  it  was  a  treatise  on  algebra  given  to  me  by  a 
young  woman  who  had  found  it  in  a  lodging-house.  I  consid- 
ered it  a  treasure  ;  but  it  was  a  treasure  locked  up,  for  it  sup- 
posed the  reader  to  be  acquainted  with  simple  equations,  and  I 
knew  nothing  of  the  matter."  He  then  speaks  of  meeting 
with  a  book  called  Fenning's  "  Introduction"  belonging  to  his 
master's  son,  who,  by  the  way,  was  discovered  afterward  to 
have  been  all  through  this  time  a  secret  rival  for  the  head-mas- 
tership. This  t4  Introduction"  gave  Gilford  just  the  informa- 
tion required  to  carry  him  forward  into  the  study  of  algebra. 
But  he  was  compelled  to  study  it  by  stealth,  lest  it  should  be 
taken  from  him,  and  he  goes  on  to  say  :  "  I  sat  up  for  the 
greater  part  of  several  nights  successively  and  completely  mas- 
tered it.  I  could  now  enter  upon  my  own,  and  that  carried  me 
pretty  far  into  the  science.  This  was  not  done  without  diffi- 
culty. I  had  not  a  farthing  on  earth,  nor  a  friend  to  give  me 
one  ;  pen,  ink,  and  paper,  therefore,  were  for  the  most  part  as 
completely  out  of  my  reach  as  a  crotfn  and  sceptre.  There 
was,  indeed,  a  resource,  but  the  utmost  caution  and  secrecy 
were  necessary  in  applying  to  it.  I  beat  out  pieces  of  leather 


WILLIAM   GIFFORD.  79 

as  smooth  as  possible  and  wrought  my  problems  on  them  with 
a  blunted  awl  ;  for  the  rest  my  memory  was  tenacious,  and  I 
could  multiply  and  divide  by  it  to  a  great  extent.'7 

Strange  to  say,  although  he  displayed  so  much  ability  and 
zeal  in  the  study  of  mathematics,  he  was  not  destined  to  achieve 
distinction  in  that  department  of  study.  A  very  trifling  inci- 
dent led  to  the  exercise  of  new  gifts,  and  turned  the  tide  of  his 
evil  fortune.  A  shopmate  had  made  a  few  verses  on  the 
blunder  of  a  painter  in  the  village  who  was  engaged  to  paint  a 
lion  for  a  sign-board,  and  had  produced  a  dog  instead.  Gifford 
thought  he  could  beat  the  verses  of  his  shopmate,  and  accord- 
ingly tried  his  hand  at  rhyme.  His  associates  all  agreed  in 
pronouncing  young  Gifford's  verses  the  better  of  the  two. 
This  encouraged  him  to  try  again,  and  in  the  course  of  a  short 
time  he  had  composed  about  a  dozen  pieces.  He  says  : 
4<  They  were  talked  of  in  my  little  circle,  and  I  was  sometimes 
invited  to  repeat  them  out  of  it.  I  never  committed  a  line  to 
paper — first,  because  I  had  no  paper  ;  and,  second,  because  I 
was  afraid,  for  my  master  had  already  threatened  me  for  inad- 
vertently hitching  the  name  of  one  of  his  customers  into  a 
rhyme."  The  rest  of  this  account  of  his  poetical  adventures 
would  be  amusing  if  it  were  not  for  the  pathos  which  underlies 
it,  and  the  fact  that  it  is  the  prelude  to  one  of  the  most  pain- 
ful incidents  in  the  sad  story  of  Gifford's  early  life.  Referring 
to  these  recitals  of  his  poetical  pieces  he  says  :  "  These  repeti- 
tions were  always  attended  by  applause,  and  sometimes  by 
favors  more  substantial  ;  little  collections  were  now  and  then 
made,  and  I  have  received  sixpence  in  an  evening  (!).  To  one 
who  had  long  lived  in  the  absolute  want  of  money  such  a 
resource  seemed  a  Peruvian  mine.  I  furnished  myself  by  de- 
grees with  paper,  etc.,  and,  what  was  of  more  importance,  with 
books  of  geometry  and  of  the  higher  branches  of  algebra, 
which  I  cautiously  concealed.  Poetry  even  at  this  time  was  no 
amusement  of  mine.  I  only  had  recourse  to  it  when  I  wanted 
money  for  my  mathematical  pursuits.  But  the  clouds  were 
gathering  fast.  My  master's  anger  was  raised  to  a  terrible  pitch 
by  my  indifference  to  his  concerns,  and  still  more  by  my  pre- 
sumptuous attempts  at  versification.  I  was  required  to  give  up 
my  papers,  and  when  I  refused,  was  searched,  my  little  hoard 
of  books  discovered  and  removed,  and  all  future  repetitions  pro- 
hibited in  the  strictest  manner.  This  was  a  severe  stroke,  I 
felt  it  most  sensibly,  and  it  was  followed  by  another,  severer 
still,  a  stroke  which  crushed  the  hopes  I  had  so  long  and  fondly 


80  ILLUSTRIOUS   SHOEMAKERS. 

cherished,  and  resigned  me  at  once  to  despair.  Mr.  Hugh 
Smerdon,  the  master  of  the  school  on  whose  succession  I  had 
calculated,  died  and  was  succeeded  by  a  person  not  much  older 
than  myself,  and  certainly  not  so  well  qualified  for  the  situa- 
tion." 

Poor  Gifford  !  hard,  indeed,  was  thy  lot  ;  an  orphan  without 
friends,  helpers,  or  sympathizers,  having  no  proper  leisure  or 
means  for  study  or  recreation,  and  even  the  little  pleasure  and 
profit  wrung  from  a  few  ciphering  books  and  doggerel  verses 
snatched  away  by  cruel  hands  ;  trodden  down  like  a  worm  in 
the  mire,  and  every  particle  of  talent  and  ambition  threatened 
with  extinction  !  For  six  long  years  this  misery  lasted  in  one 
form  or  another,  while  he  strove  to  hope  on  against  hope,  and 
found  himself  compelled  to  labor  at  a  trade  which  he  declares 
he  hated  from  the  first  with  a  perfect  hatred,  and  never,  conse- 
quently, made  any  progress  in.  What  could  be  more  miser- 
able and  disheartening  ?  But  to  the  industrious  and  patient,  as 
*' to  the  upright,  there  ariseth  light  in  the  darJcinxx.*' 
darker  hour  occurred  in  all  Gilford's  miserable  boyhood  and 
youth  than  that  which  is  described  in  the  sentences  just  quoted. 
And  now  the  light  is  about  to  appear.  A  friend  comes  upon 
the  scene,  to  whose  generous  interference  the  unhappy  cobbler 
owed  the  educational  advantages  he  afterward  enjoyed.  Jlis 
obligations  to  this  benefactor  were  always  most  readily  and 
warmly  expressed  ;  for  whatever  faults  GifTord  might  have,  he 
was  never  charged  with  the  meanness  of  forgetting  his  lowly 
origin,  and  the  generous  friend  by  whom  he  had  been  rescued 
from  a  "wretched  condition  and  introduced  to  a  happier  state  of 
life.  He  speaks  of  his  benefactor  as  bearing  "  a  name  never 
to  be  pronounced  by  him  without  veneration."  This  gentle- 
man, Mr.  Cooksley,  wras  a  surgeon  in  the  neighborhood.  He 
had  accidentally  heard  of  the  young  cobbler's  poetry,  and 
sought  an  interview  with  him.  Gifford  went  down  to  the  sur- 
geon's house,  and,  encouraged  by  the  kindness  he  received, 
told  the  story  of  his  attempts  at  self-culture,  and  of  the  hard- 
ships he  had  undergone.  Deeply  moved  by  the  touching 
story,  and  convinced  of  the  young  man's  natural  abilities  and 
desert  of  encouragement,  Mr.  Cooksley  resolved,  there  and 
then,  on  liberating  the  youth  from  the  thraldom  of  his  situa- 
tion. The  first  thing  was  to  free  him  from  the  bonds  of  his  ap- 
prenticeship, and  the  next  to  give  him  the  advantages  of  regu- 
lar instruction.  He  was  then  twenty  years  of  age,  and  he  says, 
44  My  handwriting  wras  bad,  and  my  language  very  incorrect." 


WILLIAM    GIFFOHD.  81 

Accordingly,  a  subscription  was  started  to  furnish  funds  for  this 
twofold  purpose.  It  read  as  follows  :  "  A  subscription  for 
'  purchasing  the  remainder  of  the  time  of  William  Gilford,  and 
for  enabling  him  to  improve  himself  in  writing  and  English 
grammar.1'  The  kindness  of  Cooksley  and  a  few  other 
friends,  whose  sympathies  were  enlisted  by  his  generous  zeal 
for  the  youth,  enabled  him  to  receive  two  years'  instruction 
from  a  clergyman,  the  Rev.  Thomas  Smerdon,  who  resided  in 
the  locality.  Such  was  the  progress  made  by  Gifford,  that  at 
the  end  of  that  time  his  instructor  pronounced  him  quite  pre- 
pared for  the  university.  Again  Mr.  Cooksley  proved  a  friend. 
By  his  efforts  and  promises  of  support  Gifford  was  entered  at 
Exeter  College,  Oxford.  Unfortunately  his  noble  patron  died 
before  Gifford  could  take  his  degree.  But  he  was  not  suffered 
to  leave  Oxford  on  account  of  Mr.  Cooksley's  death.  He 
found  a  second  patron  in  Lord  Grosvenor,  by  whose  aid  the 
grateful  undergraduate  was  enabled  to  finish  his  term.  The 
culture  which  he  received  in  the  university  must  have  been  very 
thorough  and  complete,  evincing  itself  in  refinement  of  man- 
ner as  well  as  scholarship  of  no  ordinary  degree,  for  in  the 
course  of  a  few  years  after  leaving  Ashburton,  we  learn  that  the 
late  shoemaker  was  taken  into  the  family  of  Lord  Grosvenor  as 
private  tutor  and  travelling  companion  to  his  son  Lord  Bel- 
grave.  The  circumstance  which  led  to  Lord  Grosvenor's  pat- 
ronage of  Gifford  was  remarkable,  and  deserves  to  be  recorded 
as  a»*  Illustration  of  the  fact  that  an  accident  may  lead  to  tho 
most  important  events  in  our  history.  But  we  must  premise, 
first  of  all,  as  a  safeguard  against  a  false  inference  or  false  hopes, 
that  such  accidents  are  sure  to  come  in  the  way  of  industrious, 
clever  and  deserving  men.  If  they  occur  to  men  of  a  different 
stamp  they  are  of  no  avail.  If  William  Gifford  had  not  been  a 
hard-working  student,  such  a  circumstance  as  the  accidental  pe- 
rusal of  one  of  his  letters  by  a  person  for  whom  it  was  not  in- 
tended could  not  have  helped  his  fortunes  in  the  least.  It  ap- 
pears that  he  had  been  in  the  habit  of  corresponding  with  a 
friend  in  London  on  literary  matters.  His  letters  to  this  friend 
were  sent  under  covers,  and  in  order  to  save  postage  were  left 
at  Lord  Grosvenor's.  One  day  the  address  of  the  literary  friend 
was  omitted,  and  his  lordship,  supposing  the  letter  to  be  for 
himself,  opened  and  read  it.  The  contents  excited  his  admira- 
tion, and  awakened  his  curiosity  to  know  who  the  author  could 
be.  He  was  sent  for,  and  after  an  interview,  in  which,  for  the 
second  time  in  his  life,  he  told  the  story  of  his  early  strug- 


82  ILLUSTRIOUS    SHOE. MAKERS. 

gles  to  willing  and  sympathizing  ears,  he  was  invited  by  Lord 
Grosvenor  to  come  and  reside  with  him. 

It  is  deeply  gratifying  to  record  instances  of  disinterested 
generosity  of  this  kind,  and  to  read  the  glowing  language  in 
which  the  thankful  young  student  refers  to  the  kindness  of  his 
noble  patron.  Referring  to  the  invitation  to  live  with  Lord 
Grosvenor,  and  his  promise  of  honorable  maintenance,  Gifford 
says,  "  These  were  not  words  of  course,  they  were  more  than 
fulfilled  in  every  point.  I  did  go  and  reside  with  him,  and  I 
experienced  a  warm  and  cordial  reception,  and  a  kind  and 
affectionate  esteem  that  has  known  neither  diminution  nor  in- 
terruption, from  that  hour  to  this,  a  period  of  twenty  years/7 

In  1794,  his  "  Baviad  "  was  published,  in  imitation  of  the 
satires  of  Persius,  and  in  the  following  year  the  "  Ma3viad," 
after  the  style  of  Horace.  These  names  were  taken  from  the 
third  Eclogue  of  Virgil — 

"  He  may  with  foxes  plough  and  milk  he-goats, 
Who  praises  Bavins  or  on  Mcemus  dotes." 

These  terribly  virulent  satires,  like  those  of  Boileau  and  Pope, 
were  aimed  at  contemporary  poets  of  an  inferior  order,  and  like 
them,  too,  were  most  crushing  in  their  effect.  The  Delia  Cms- 
can  School*  never  smiled,  or  rather  smirked,  again  after  the 
issue  of  the  Baviad  and  Maeviad.  But  it  is  a  rare  thing  to  meet 
with  a  critic  or  a  satirist  who  escapes  the  danger  of  committing 
a  fault  in  condemning  one.  Gifford  did  not  escape  this  dan- 
ger. His  lines  certainly  did  not  answer  to  the  epigram — 

"  Satire  should,  like  a  polished  razor  keen, 

Wound  with  a  touch  that's  scarcely  felt  or  seen." 

His  unhappy  victims  were  hacked  and  hewed  in  pieces  in  a  mer- 
ciless and  barbarous  manner  ;  while  the  spectators  enjoyed  the 
savage  sport,  and  accorded  the  cruel  executioner  a  wreath  of 
laurel  for  the  vigor  and  talent  displayed. in  his  unenviable  task. 
These  satires  first  made  Gifford's  name  in  the  world  of  letters. 
But  his  fame  as  a  scholar  was  established  chiefly  on  his  transla- 
tions of  Persius  and  Juvenal,  and  his  excellent  editions,  with 
valuable  notes,  of  the  early  "  English  Dramatists."  Speaking 
of  Gifford's  edition  of  Ben  Jonson's  dramatic  and  other  works, 
John  Kernble,  the  most  accomplished  actor  of  his  day,  says, 

*  The  name  Cruscan  was  taken  from  the  Florentine  Academy,  by 
Robert  Merry,  the  founder  of  this  school  of  mawkish  and  affected 
poetasters. 


WILLIAM    GIFFORD.  83 

"  It  is  the  best  edition,  by  the  ablest  of  modern  commentators, 
through  whose  learned  and  generous  labors  old  Ben's  forgotten 
,  works  and  injured  character  are  restored  to  the  merited  admira- 
tion and  esteem  of  the  world.'7 

The  celebrity  thus  obtained,  along  with  the  friendship  of  the 
leading  Tory  politicians  of  the  day,  secured  for  Gifford  the  po- 
sition of  editor  of  the  London  Quarterly.  It  ought  to  be  stated 
that  when  Mr.  Channing  started  the  Anti-Jacobin  in  1797, 
Gifford  was  entrusted  with  the  conduct  of  that  journal,  and  had 
thus  acquired  a  little  experience  of  journalism.  His  connection 
with  this  paper,  which  came  out  weekly,  lasted  only  for  a  year. 
But  he  managed  the  Quarterly,  as  we  have  said,  for  fifteen 
years,  that  is,  from  1809,  the  date  of  its  commencement,  to 
1824,  when  ill-health  compelled  him  to  lay  his  pen  aside. 

The  plan  of  this  new  journal  had  originated  with  John  Mur- 
ray, the  famous  publisher,  and  had  received  the  hearty  support 
of  Walter  Scott,  Robert  Southey,  Canning,  Rose,  Disraeli, 
and  Hookham  Frere.  The  first  number,  containing  three  arti- 
cles by  Walter  Scott,  was  published  on  the  1st  February,  1809, 
and  was  immediately  sold  out,  a  second  edition  being  called  for* 
Canning  wrote  for  the  second  number,  and  Southey  became  a 
constant  and  most  prolific  contributor.  "  For  the  first  hundred 
and  twenty-six  numbers  he  wrote  ninety-four  articles,  many  of 
them  of  great  permanent  value.'7*  At  John  Murray's  "  draw- 
ing-rooms," where  the  leading  literary  men  of  the  day  were 
wont  to  assemble  at  four  o'clock,  Gifford  met  with  a  brilliant 
assemblage  of  poets,  novelists,  historians,  artists,  and  others. 
Murray  the  publisher  delighted  "  to  gather  together  such  men 
as  Byron,  Scott,  Moore,  Campbell,  Southey,  Gifford,  Hallam, 
Lockhart,  Washington  Irving,  and  Mrs.  Somerville  ;  and,  more 
than  this,  he  invited  such  artists  as  Lawrence,  Wilkie,  Phillips, 
Newton,  and  Pickersgill,  to  meet  them  and  paint  them,  that 
they  might  hang  forever  on  his  walls."  f  It  was  in  reference 
to  one  of  Murray's  "  publishers'  dinners"  Byron  wrote  the 
lines  in  which  occurs  the  following  allusion  to  Gifford  : 

o 

"  A  party  dines  with  me  to-day. 
All  clever  men  who  make  their  way  ; 
Crabbe,  Malcolm,  Hamilton,  and  Chantrey 
Are  all  partakers  of  my  pantry. 


*  «  History  of  Booksellers."  H.  Curwen.    Chatto  &  Windus.   P.  175. 
f  "Ibid.,  pp.  180,  181. 


84:  ILLUSTRIOUS   SHOEMAKERS. 

My  room's  so  full — we've  Gifford  here, 
Reading  MS.  with  Hookham  Frere, 
Pronouncing  on  the  nouns  and  particles 
Of  some  of  our  forthcoming  articles." 

A  writer  in  the  Literary  Gazette,*  who  had  the  pleasure  of 
Gilford's  personal  acquaintance,  has  made  the  following  inter- 
esting notes  upon  his  private  character,  and  his  conduct  as  an 
editor.  "  He  never  stipulated  for  any  salary  as  editor  ;  at  first 
he  received  £200,  and  at  last  £900  per  annum,  but  never 
engaged  for  a  particular  sum.  He  several  times  returned 
money  to  Murray,  saying  '  he  had  been  too  liberal/  Perhaps 
he  was  the  only  man  on  this  side  the  Tweed  who  thought  so  ! 
lie  was  perfectly  indifferent  about  wealth.  I  do  not  know  a 
better  proof  of  this  than  the  fact  that  he  was  richer,  by  a  very 
considerable  sum,  at  the  time  of  his  death  than  he  was  at  all 
aware  of.  In  unison  with  his  contempt  of  money  was  his  dis- 
regard of  any  external  distinction  ;  he  had  a  strong  natural 
aversion  to  anything  like  pomp  or  parade.  Yet  he  was  by  no 
means  insensible  to  an  honorable  distinction,  and  when  the 
University  of  Oxford,  about  two  years  before  his  death,  offered 
to  give  him  a  doctor's  degree,  he  observed,  *  Twenty  years  ago 
it  would  have  been  gratifying,  but  now  it  would  only  be  writ- 
ten on  my  coffin.' 

"  His  disregard  for  external  show  was  the  more  remarkable, 
as  a  contrary  feeling  is  generally  observable  in  persons  who  have 
risen  from  penury  to  wealth.  But  Gifford  was  a  gentleman  in 
feeling  and  in  conduct,  and  you  were  never  led  to  suspect  he 
was  sprung  from  an  obscure  origin  except  when  he  reminded 
you  of  it  by  an  anecdote  relative  to  it.  And  this  recalls  one  of 
the  stories  he  used  to  tell  with  irresistible  drollery,  the  merit 
of  .which  entirely  depended  on  his  manner.  It  was  simply 
this  :  At  the  cobblers'  board,  of  which  Gifford  had  been  a  mem- 
ber, there  was  but  one  candle  allowed  for  the  whole  coterie  of 
operatives  ;  it  was,  of  course,  a  matter  of  importance  that  this 
candle  should  give  as  much  light  as  possible.  This  was  only 
to  be  done  by  repeated  snuffings  ;  but  snuffers  being  a  piece  of 
fantastic  coxcombry  they  were  not  pampered  with  :  the  mem- 
bers of  the  board  took  it  in  turn  to  perform  the  office  of  the 
forbidden  luxury  with  their  finger  and  thumb.  The  candle  was 
handed,  therefore,  to  each  in  succession,  with  the  word  4  sneaf 
(Anglice,  snuff)  bellowed  in  his  ears.  Gifford  used  to  pro- 

*  Quoted  in  "The  Lives  of  Eminent  Englishmen."  Fullarton  & 
Co.,  Glasgow,  1838.  Vol.  viii.  pp.  317,  318. 


WILLIAM    GIFFORD.  85 

nounce  this  word  in  the  legitimate  broad  Devonshire  dialect, 
and  accompanied  his  story  with  expressive  gestures.  Now  on 
paper  this  is  absolutely  nothing,  but  in  Gifford's  mouth  it  was 
exquisitely  humorous.  I  should  not,  however,  have  mentioned 
it,  were  it  not  that  it  appears  to  me  one  of  the  best  instances  I 
could  give  of  his  humility  in  recurring  to  his  former  condition. 
...  He  was  a  man  of  very  deep  and  warm  affections.  If  I 
were  desired  to  point  out  the  distinguishing  excellence  of  his 
private  character,  I  should  refer  to  his  fervent  sincerity  of  heart. 
He  was  particularly  kind  to- children  and  fond  of  their  society. 
My  sister,  when  young,  used  sometimes  to  spend  a  month  with 
him,  on  which  occasions  he  would  hire  a  pianoforte,  and  once 
he  actually  had  a  juvenile  ball  at  his  house  for  her  amusement.7' 

Speaking  of  the  spirit  he  displayed  as  editor  of  the  Quarterly, 
the  same  writer  says  :  "  He  disliked  incurring  an  obligation 
which  might  in  any  degree  shackle  the  expression  of  his  free 
opinion.  Agreeably  to  this,  he  laid  down  a  rule,  from  which 
he  never  departed,  that  every  writer  in  the  Quarterly  would  re- 
ceive at  least  so  much  per  sheet.  On  one  occasion,  a  gentle- 
man holding  office  under  Government  sent  him  an  article,  which, 
after  undergoing  some  serious  mutilations  at  his  hands  prepara- 
tory to  being  ushered  into  the  world,  was  accepted.  But  the 
usual  sum  being  sent  to  the  author,  he  rejected  it  with  disdain, 
conceiving  it  a  high  dishonor  to  be  paid  for  anything — the  in- 
dependent placeman  !  Gifford,  in  answer,  informed  him  of 
the  invariable  rule  of  the  Review  adding,  that  he  could  send  the 
money  to  any  charitable  institution,  or  dispose  of  it  in  any 
manner  he  should  direct,  but  that  the  money  must  be  paid.  The 
doughty  official,  convinced  that  the  virtue  of  his  article  would 
force  it  into  the  Review  at  all  events,  stood  firm  in  his  refusal  ; 
greatly  to  his  dismay  the  article  was  returned.  He  revenged 
himself  by  never  sending  another." 

Speaking  of  his  relation  to  the  Tory  Government  of  the  day, 
the  writer  says  :  "  It  is  true  his  independence  of  opinion  might 
seem  to  be  interfered  with  by  the  situations  he  held,  but  they 
were  bestowed  on  him  unsolicited,  and  from  motives  of  per- 
sonal regard.  I  am  sure  every  one  acquainted  with  him  will 
admit  that  he  would  have  rejected  -with  scorn  any  kindness 
which  could  be  considered  as  fettering  the  freedom  of  his  con- 
duct in  the  smallest  degree.  I  am  not  more  certain  of  many 
conjectures  than  I  am  that  he  never  propagated  a  dishonest 
opinion  nor  did  a  dishonest  act.  ...  If  the  united  influence 
of  the  Anti-Jacobin  and  the  Quarterly  be  considered,  we  may 


86  ILLUSTRIOUS   SHOEMAKERS. 

probably  be  justified  in  assigning  to  Gilford's  literary  support 
of  Government  a  rank  second  only  to  Burke." 

William  Gifford  died  worth  a  considerable  fortune,  which  he 
left,  as  a  token  of  undying  gratitude,  to  Mr.  William  Cooksley, 
the  son  of  his  first  generous  patron  and  benefactor. 

We  append  a  few  selections  Iroin  GifTord's  poetical  works, 
as  samples  of  his  style  and  quality  as  a  writer.  The  first  is 
from  the  4t  Baviad,"  and  represents  him  in  the  character  of  a 
satirist  exposing  the  vanities  of  the  "  Delia  Cruscan"  school  of 
poets  ;  and  the  second,  taken  from  the  '*  Biffiviadj*'  exhibits 
him  in  the  more  genial  light  of  a  faithful  friend,  commemorat- 
ing his  early  intercourse  with  his  companion  and  fellow-student, 
Dr.  Ireland,  Dean  of  Westminster  : 

"  For  I  was  born 

To  brand  obtrusive  ignorance  with  scorn  ; 
On  bloated  pedantry  to  pour  iny  rage, 
And  hiss  preposterous  fustian  from  the  stage. 

Lo,  Delia  Crusca  !     In  his.  closet  pent, 
He  toils  to  give  the  crude  conception  venfc. 
Abortive  thoughts  that  right  and  wrong  confound, 
Truth  sacrificed  to  letters,  sense  to  sound, 
False  glare,  incongruous  images  combine  ; 
And  noise  and  nonsense  clatter  through  the  line, 
'Tis  done.      Her  house  the  generous  Piozzi  lends, 
And  thither  summons  her  blue- stocking  friends  ; 
The  summons  her  blue- stocking  friends  obey, 
Lured  by  the  love  of  poetry— and  tea. 

The  bard  steps  forth  in  birthday  splendor  drest, 
His  right  hand  graceful  waving  o'er  his  breast, 
His  left  extending,  so  that  all  may  see 
A  roll  inscribed,  '  The  Wreath  of  Liberty.' 
80  forth  he  steps,  and  with  complacent  air, 
Bows  round  the  circle,  and  assumes  the  chair  ; 
With  lemonade  he  gargles  first  his  throat, 
Then  sweetly  preludes  to  the  liquid  note  : 
And  now  'tis  silence  all.      '  Genius  or  muse  ' — 
Thus  while  the  flowery  subject  he  pursues, 
A  wild  delirium  round  th'  assembly  flies  ; 
Unusual  lustre  shoots  from  Emma's  eyes  ; 
Luxurious  Arno  drivels  as  he  stands  ; 
And  Anna  frisks,  and  Laura  claps  her  hands. 

Hear  now  our  guests  : — '  The  critics,  sir,  they  cry, 

Merit  like  yours  the  critics  may  defy  ;' 

But  this  indeed  they  say,  '  Your  varied  rhymes, 

At  once  the  boast  and  envy  of  the  times, 

In  every  page,  song,  sonnet,  what  you  will, 

Show  boundless  genius  and  unrivalled  skill.' 


WILLIAM    GIFFORD.  87 


Thus  fooled,  the  moon-struck  tribe,  whose  best  essays 

Sunk  in  acrostics  and  in  roundelays, 

To  loftier  labors  now  pretend  a  call, 

And  bustle  in  heroics  one  and  all. 

E'en  Bertie  burns  of  gods  and  chiefs  to  sing — 

Bertie  who  lately  twittered  to  the  string 

His  namby-pamby  madrigals  of  love, 

In  the  dark  dingles  of  a  glittering  grove, 

Where  airy  lays,  wove  by  the  hand  of  morn, 

Were  hung  to  dry  upon  a  cobweb  thorn  ! 

Happy  the  soil  where  bards  like  mushrooms  rise, 

And  ask  no  culture  but  what  Byshe  supplies ! 

Happier  the  bards  who,  write  whate'  er  they  will, 

Find  gentle  readers  to  admire  them  still ! 

Oh  for  the  good  old  times  !  when  all  was  new, 

And  every  hour  brought  prodigies  to  view, 

Our  sires  in  unaffected  language  told 

Of  streams  of  amber,  and  of  rocks  of  gold  ; 

Full  of  their  theme,  they  spurned  all  idle  art ; 

And  the  plain  tale  was  trusted  to  the  heart. 

Now  all  is  changed  !     We  fume  and  fret,  poor  elves  ; 

!Less  to  display  our  subject  than  ourselves  : 

Whate' er  we  paint — a  grot,  a  flower,  a  bird, 

Heavens  !  how  we  sweat,  laboriously  absurd  ! 

Words  of  gigantic  bulk,  and  uncouth  sound, 

In  rattling  triads  the  long  sentence  bound  ; 

While  points  with  points,  with  periods  periods  jar, 

And  the  whole  work  seems  one  continued  war  !" 

Not  less  poetical,  and  certainly  much  more  pleasant  in  its 
tone,  is  this  reminiscence  of  his  early  friendship  with  Dr. 
Ireland  : 

*'  Chief  thou,  my  friend  !  who  from  my  earliest  years 
Hast  shared  my  joys,  and  more  than  shared  my  cares, 
Sure,  if  our  fates  hang  on  some  hidden  power, 
And  take  their  color  from  the  natal  hour, 
Then,  Ireland,  the  same  planet  on  us  rose, 
Such  the  strong  sympathies  our  lives  disclose  ! 
Thou  knowest  how  soon  we  felt  this  influence  bland, 
And  sought  the  brook  and  coppice,  hand  in  hand, 
And  shaped  rude  bows,  and  uncouth  whistles  blew, 
And  paper  kites — a  last  great  effort — flew  : 
And  when  the  day  was  done,  retired  to  rest, 
Sleep  on  our  eyes,  and  sunshine  in  our  breast. 
In  riper  years,  again  together  thrown, 
Our  studies,  as  our  sports  before,  were  one. 
Together  we  explored  the  stoic  page 
Of  the  Ligurian,  stern  though  bearless  sage  ! 
Or  traced  the  Aquinian  through  the  Latine  road. 
And  trembled  at  the  lashes  he  bestowed. 


;S(S  ILLUSTRIOUS    S1IOKM  A  K  KUS. 


Together,  too,  when  Greece  unlocked  her  stores, 
We  roved  in  thought  o'er  Troy's  devoted  shores, 
Or  followed,  while  he  sought  his  imtive  soil, 
*  That  old  man  eloquent '  from  toil  to  toil  ; 
Lingering,  with  good  Alcinous  o'er  the  tale, 
Till  the  east  reddened  and  the  stars  grew  pale." 

The  tenderness  of  his  nature  is  also   shown  in  the   lines  he 
wrote  for  the  tombstone  of  his  faithful  servant  Ann  Davies  : 

"  Though  here  unknown,  dear  Ann,  thy  ashes  rest, 
Still  lives  thy  memory  in  one  grateful  breast, 
That  traced  thy  course  through  many  a  painful  year, 
And  marked  thy  humble  hope,  thy  pious  fear. 
Oh  !  when  this  frame  which  yet  while  life  remained, 
Thy  duteous  love  with  trembling  hand  sustained, 
Dissolves— as  soon  it  must— may  that  blest  Power 
Who  beamed  on  thine,  illume  my  parting  hour  ! 
So  shall  I  greet  thee  where  no  ills  annoy, 
And  what  was  sown  in  grief  is  reaped  in  joy  ; 
Where  worth,  obscured  below,  bursts  into  day, 
And  those  are  paid  whom  earth  could  never  pay." 


RORERT   Rt.OOMFIEI-D 


THE    SHOEMAKER    WHO    WROTE    "THE    FARMER'S    BOY."11 


"  Crispin's  sons 

Have  from  uncounted  time,  with  ale  and  buns, 
Cherished  the  gift  of  'song,  which  sorrow  quells ; 
And,  working  single  in  their  low-built  cells, 
Oft  cheat  the  tedium  of  a  winter's  night 
With  anthems." 

— CHARLES  LAMB:  Album  Verses,  1830,  p.  67. 

"  I  have  received  many  honorable  testimonies  of  esteem  from  strangers  ; 
letters  without  a  name,  but  filled  with  the  most  cordial  advice,  and  almost 
parental  anxiety  for  my  safety  under  so  great  a  share  of  public  applause. 
I  beg  to  refer  such  friends  to  the  great  teacher,  Time ;  and  hope  that  he 
will  hereafter  give  me  my  deserts,  and  no  more." — Robert  Bloomfield,  Pref- 
ace to  "Rural  Tales,"  Sept.  29,  1801. 

"  No  pompous  learning — no  parade 
Of  pedantry  and  cumbrous  lore, 
On  thy  elastic  bosom  weigh' d  ; 
Instead,  were  thine,  a  mazy  store 
Of  feelings  delicately  wrought, 
And  treasures  gleaned  by  silent  thought. 

"  Obscurity,  and  low-born  care, 
Labor,  and  want — all  adverse  things, 
Combined  to  bow  thee  to  despair ; 
And  of  her  young  untutor'd  wings 
To  rob  thy  Genius. — 'Twas  in  vain: 
With  one  proud  soar  she  burst  her  chain ! " 

— Blackwood's  Magazine,  Sept.  1823. 


ROBERT  BLOOMFIELD. 

WE  have  now  to  speak  of  a  shoemaker  poet.  The  name  of 
Robert  Bloomfield,  the  ajithor  of  the  "  Farmer's  Boy/'  is 
known  and  held  in  honor  wherever  the  English  language  is 
spoken.  All  classes  of  readers  admire  his  poetry,  although  it 
is  not  of  the  highest  order  of  merit.  It  has,  however,  a  genu- 
ine quality  which  no  one  possessed  of  poetical  taste  can  fail  to 
recognize.  Its  chief  features  are  delightful  rustic  simplicity 
and  naturalness,  faithful  reflection  of  the  beauties  of  nature, 
and  the  charms  which  belong  to  rural  occupations.  The  ro- 
mantic side  of  the  life  of  a  farmer's  boy  is  given  in  the  poem 
bearing  that  name,  as  we  have  it  nowhere  else  in  all  our  poetic 
or  prose  literature. 

Bloomfield,  though  surrounded  by  the  most  unfavorable  con- 
ditions, as  a  writer  of  poetry  seems  to  have  experienced  no 
difficulty  in  executing  his  task.  His  was  indeed  a  case  in 
which  the  adage  is  well  illustrated — poeta  nascitur  non  fit — a 
poet  is  born,  not  made.  He  was  born  with  the  gift  of  song. 
It  would  have  been  difficult  for  him  to  restrain  its  exercise. 
He  made  poetry,  as  the  song-birds  sing,  by  instinct  and  irre- 
sistible impulse.  For  him  the  words  are  quite  as  true  as  they 
are  of  the  greater  poet  who  wrote  them,* 

"  I  do  but  sing  because  I  must, 
And  pipe  but  as  the  linnets  sing.'* 

Robert  Bloomfield  was  born  and  brought  up  in  the  lovely 
neighborhood  of  Honington,  Ixworth  and  Sapiston,  in  the 
northern ,part  of  the  county  of  Suffolk.  An  idea  of  the  quiet 
beauty  of  the  woodland  scenery  of  Suffolk  may  be  obtained 
from  the  paintings  of  Gainsborough,  another  notable  man 
whom  this  county  has  produced.  Gainsborough,  as  a  boy  full 
of  yearnings  after  art,  loved  to  spend  his  time  in  the  woods 
and  pastures  round  Sudbury,  sketching  trees,  brooks,  meadow- 
landscapes,  cattle,  shepherds,  or  ploughmen  at  their  work  in 
the  fields.  He  was  at  the  height  of  his  fame  as  a  painter 
when  Bloomfield  was  a  farmer's  boy  at  Sapiston,  on  the  Graf- 

*  Tennyson,  ' '  In  Memoriam, ' '  stanza  xxi. 


94  ILLUSTRIOUS  SHOEMAKERS. 

ton  estate.  It  is  interesting  to  know  that  these  two  Suffolk 
men  were  contemporary,  t4  the  first  truly  original  English 
painter/7  who  took  his  lessons  direct  from  nature,  and  the  first 
genuine  poet  of  the  English  farm  and  field. 

Bloomfield's  father  was  a  tailor  at  Honington,  near  Bury 
St.  Edmund's.  Robert  was  born  in  1760.  His  father  died  at 
the  end  of  the  following  year,  leaving  Robert  and  five  other 
children  to  the  care  of  their  mother.  She  was  a  worthy,  esti- 
mable woman,  who  managed  by  lier  own  unaided  efforts 
not  only  to  maintain  her  little  family,  but  to  give  each 
of  her  children  the  rudiments  of  an  education.  This  she 
accomplished  by  opening  a  school,  and  teaching  her  own  chil- 
dren along  with  the  rest.  With  the  exception  of  a  few 
months'  instruction  in  writing  from  a  schoolmaster  at  Ix worth, 
the  future  poet  learned  from  his  mother  all  he  knew  when  lie 
left  his  home  to  earn  his  own  living.  This  he  did  at  the  age 
of  eleven,  his  mother,  who  had  married  again,  being  no  longer 
able  to  keep  him  at  home,  or  put  him  to  a  good  school.  His 
maternal  uncle,  a  Mr.  Austin  of  Sapiston,  agreed  to  take  him 
as  a  boy  about  the  farm,  and  allow  him  to  live  in  the  house 
with  the  rest  of  the  family.  He  appears  to  have  received  no 
wages,  his  "  board  "  being  the  only  allowance  made  for  the 
work  he  did  as  a  farmer's  boy  ;  and  this  could  hardly  be  much 
at  such  an  age.  He  remained  in  this  situation  four  years,  until 
he  was  fifteen.  It  was  during  these  four  years  of  boyhood  he 
picked  up  the  knowledge  of  farm- life,  and  made  the  observa- 
tions on  the  varied  phases  of  nature  and  the  seasons  which  are 
delightfully  interwoven  in  the  four  books  of  his  well-known 
poem,  "  The  Farmer's  Boy."  How  observant  he  must  have 
been,  how  eagerly  he  must  have  entered  into  the  pleasures  of 
rural  life,  how  keen  must  have  been  his  boyish  sense  of  the 
beautiful  and  romantic,  may  be  imagined  by  those  who  con- 
sider the  circumstances  in  the  midst  of  which,  in  after-years,, 
he  composed  that  charming  poem. 

His  mother  had  undertaken  to  provide  him  with  clothing 
while  with  his  uncle  at  the  farm  ;  but  this  small  expense  was 
found  to  be  too  much  for  her  scanty  means.  Robert  at  that 
time  had  two  brothers,  George  and  Nathaniel,  living  in  Lon- 
don, and  working,  the  one  as  a  journeyman  shoemaker,  and  the 
other  as  a  tailor.  To  them  the  anxious  mother  applied  for  help 
in  her  difficulties,  stating  in  her  letter  that  Mr.  Austin  had  said 
Robert  was  so  small  and  weakly,  it  was  to  be  feared  he  would 
never  be  able  to  obtain  his  living  by  hard  out-door  labor.  The 


ROBERT   BLOOMFIELD..  95 

brothers  at  once  agreed  to  take  liim  under  their  care,  find  him 
in  food  and  clothing,  and  teach  him  the  <3raft  of  shoemaking 
until  he  should  be  able  to  obtain  his  own  livelihood.  Full  of 
solicitude  for  his  safety  .and  well-being,  the  good  woman  took 
him  up  to  London  herself,  and  handed  him  over  to  the  guar- 
dianship of  her  two  eldest  sons,  begging  them,  "  as  they  valued 
a  mother's  blessing,  to  watch  over  him,  to  set  good  examples 
for  him,  and  never  to  forget  that  he  had  lost  his  father." 

'  George  Bloomfield  and  his  brother  were  then  living  .at  No.  7 
Pitcher's  Court,  Bell  Alley,  Coleinan  Street,  in  a  garret  which 
served  both  as  workshop  and  bedroom.  The  place  was  dingy 
and  gloomy,  and  presented  to  the  bright,  thoughtful  Suffolk 
lad  "a  mournful  contrast  to  the  pleasant  surroundings  in  the 
old  farm-house  at  Sapiston.  Nor  could  it  have  been  a  very 
healthy  abode,  for  five  workmen  occupied  the  room  during  the 
day,  '  4  clubbing  together, ' '  after  the  fashion  of  such  workmen 
in  those  days,  to  lighten  the  burden  of  rent. 

At  first  the  new-comer  was  chiefly  employed  by  the  older 
men  as  their  errand-boy,  being  rewarded  for  his  trouble  by 
receiving  lessons  from  the  workmen  in  the  art  of  shoemaking. 
These  men,  like  so  many  of  their  craft,  were  of  a  thoughtful 
turn  of  mind,  and  very  eager  for  the  news  of  the  day.  It  had 
been  their  custom  to  have  the  yesterday's  paper  brought  in  with 
their  dinner  by  the  pot-boy  from  a  neighboring  public-house. 
Until  Robert  came  they  bad  been  in  the  habit  of  reading  it  by 
turns,  but  now,  as  his  time  was  less  valuable  than  theirs,  the 
office  of  reader  was  permanently  handed  over  to  him.  This 
duty  was  of  much  service  to  him,  for  the  information  he  gained 
by  reading  disciplined  his  young  mind  to  close  and  continuous 
thought,  and  enlarged  his  knowledge  of  his  own  language.  The 
simple  account,  given  by  his  brother  George,  of  these  social 
readings  in  the  cobblers'  workroom,  and  other  means  of  instruc- 
tion of  which  Robert  availed  himself,  is  full  of  interest.  George 
Bloomfield  says  :  "  He  frequently  met  with  words  that  he  was 
unacquainted  with  ;  of  this  he  often  complained.  I  one  day 
happened  at  a  book-stall  to  see  a  small  dictionary  which  had 
been  very  ill-used.  I  bought  it  for  him  for  fourpence.  By  the 
help  of  this  he  in  a  little  time  could  read  and  comprehend  the 
long  and  beautiful  speeches  of  Burke,  Fox,  or  North."  And 
again  :  "  One  Sunday,  after  a  whole  day's  stroll  in  the  coun- 
try, we  by  accident  went  into  a  Dissenting  meeting-house  in 
the  Old  Jewry,  where  a  gentleman  was  lecturing.  This  man 
filled  Robert  with  astonishment.  The  house  was  amazingly 


96  ILLUSTRIOUS   SHOEMAKERS. 

crowded  with  the  most  genteel  people  ;  and  though  we  were 
forced  to  stand  in  the  aisle,  and  were  much  pressed,  yet  Robert 
always  quickened  his  steps  to  get  into  the  town  on  a  Sunday 
evening  soon  enough  to  attend  this  lecture.  The  preacher's 
name  was  Fawcet.  His  language  was  just  such  as  the  i  Rambler  ' 
is  written  in.  ...  Of  him  Robert  learned  to  accent  what  he 
•  called  hard  words,  and  otherwise  to  improve  himself,  and 
gained  the  most  enlarged  notions  of  Providence." 

Bloomfield's  reading  was  not  very  extensive  nor  diversified 
during  these  early  years  of  his  London  life,  yet  it  was  sufficient 
to  whet  his  appetite  for  mental  improvement,  and  give  him  no 
small  degree  of  literary  taste  and  skill.  The  brothers  took,  in 
sixpenny  numbers,  such  works  as  a  "  History  of  England," 
44  the  British  Traveller,"  and  a  "Treatise  on  Geography." 
These  were  read  aloud  to  the  little  company  of  busy  listeners, 
several  hours  of  the  day  being  occupied  with  the  task.  His 
first  poetic  impulse  was  awakened  by  the  perusal  of  the  London 
Magazine,  which  found  its  way  at  this  time  into  the  cobblers' 
garret.  Robert  always  read  it  with  zest,  carefully  scanning  the 
reviews  of  books,  and  never  failing  to  look  into  the  4<  Poets' 
Corner."  One  day  he  surprised  his  brother  by  repeating  a 
song  which  he  had  composed  after  the  manner  of  Burns  and  so 
many  other  graceful  songsters,  "  to  an  old  tune."  George  was 
as  much  delighted  as  surprised  at  his  young  brother's  smooth 
and  easy  verses,  and  encouraged  him  to  try  the  experiment  of 
sending  them  to  the  editor.  This  he  did  with  many  fears  and 
hopes,  and  nervously  awaited  the  issue  of  the  next  number. 
To  his  intense  delight,  and  the  pardonable  pride  of  the  whole 
company,  the  verses  appeared  in  print.  As  a  specimen  of  his 
first  literary  attempt,  every  youth  will  deem  them  worth  record- 
ing, and  will  read  them  with  pleasure.  They  bear  the  modest 
title  "  A  Village  Girl,"  and  are  signed  with  the  letters  R.  B. 

"  Hail  May  !  lovely  May  !  how  replenished  my  pails, 
The  young  dawn  o'  erspreads  the  broad  east  streaked  with  gold ! 
My  glad  heart  beats  time  to  the  laugh  of  the  vales, 
And  Colin' s  voice  rings  through  the  wood  from  the  fold. 

The  wood  to  the  mountain  submissively  bends, 
Whose  blue  misty  summit  first  glows  with  the  sun  ; 
See  !  thence  a  gay  train  by  the  wild  rill  descends 
To  join  the  mixed  sports  : — Hark  !  the  tumult's  begun. 

Be  cloudless,  ye  skies  !  and  be  Colin  but  there  ; 
Not  dew-spangled  bents  on  the  wide  level  dale, 
Nor  morning's  first  smile  can  more  lovely  appear, 
Than  his  looks, — since  my  wishes  I  cannot  conceal. 


ROBERT   BLOOMFIELD.  97 

Swift  down  the  mad  dance,  whilst  blest  health  prompts  to  move, 
We'll  count  joys  to  come,  and  exchange  vows  of  truth  , 
And  haply,  when  age  cools  the  transports  of  love, 
Decry,  like  good  folks,  the  vain  follies  of  youth." 

Another  piece  called  "  The  Sailor's  Return''  found  a  place 
in  the  "  Poets'  Corner."  These  efforts  were  enough  to  prove 
his  taste  and  gifts  as  a  versifier.  The  poetic  power  was  latent 
in  his  mind,  and  only  needed  sufficient  stimulus  to  bring  it  into 
full  exercise.  This  stimulus  came,  as  was  natural,  from  the 
reading  of  poetry  itself.  A-  copy  of  Thomson's  "  Seasons" 
and  Milton's  "  Paradise  Lost"  fell  into  his  hands  when  he  was 
about  seventeen  years  of  age.  They  belonged  to  a  Scotchman 
who  lived  and  worked  at  a  house  in  Bell  Alley,  to  which  the 
shoemakers  removed  about  this  time.  The  eager  youth  read 
them  with  the  passion  of  a  born  poet  ;  and,  as  he  read,  the  fire 
burned  within.  His  imagination  was  now  fairly  awakened, 
and  it  was  plain  to  all  who  watched  him  intelligently  at  this 
time,  that  melodies  were  being  awakened  in  his  heart  that 
sooner  or  later  must  find  their  expression  in  song.  The  "  Sea- 
sons" was  his  favorite  poem.  He  read  and  re-read  its  glowing 
descriptions  of  nature,  committed  favorite  portions  to  memory, 
and  never  tired  of  recounting  its  beauties  in  the  hearing  of  his 
sympathetic  friends.  The  "  Seasons"  struck  the  key-note  of 
the  "  Farmer's  Boy,"  though  Bloomfield  was  no  imitator  of 
Thomson,  nor  of  any  one  else,  in  either  matter  or  manner.  The 
thought  and  style  of  these  two  poets  of  nature  are  as  unlike  as 
their  kindred  subjects  would  allow  them  to  be.  Thomson's 
music  is  that  of  a  majestic  and  stately  oratorio,  while  Bloom- 
field  sings  a  sweet  and  simple  pastoral  symphony. 

But  the  young  poet  was  not  yet  to  enter  on  his  great  task. 
Fourteen  years  passed  away  before  his  first  and  best  published 
poem,  the  "  Fanner's  Boy,"  saw  the  light.  During  this  time 
several  important  events  in  his  history  occurred.  In  his  eigh- 
teenth year,  in  consequence  of  certain  disputes  in  the  shoe- 
makers' trade  about  the  legality  of  employing  boys  who  had 
not  been  bound  as  apprentices,  he  went  back  again  to  Suffolk 
for  a  short  time,  and  was  taken  into  the  home  of  his  uncle  and 
former  master,  Mr.  Austin  of  Sapiston.  Here  for  two  months 
of  happy  leisure  he  roamed  the  fields  where  he  spent  so  much 
of  his  time  as  a  boy,  reviving  old  impressions,  and  deepening  in 
his  mind  that  keen  sense  of  the  beautiful  which  city  life  and 
the  imprisonment  of  a  shoemaker's  occupation  had  not  been 
sufficient  to  destroy.  His  companion  at  this  time  was  still  the 


98  ILLUSTRIOUS   SHOEMAKERS. 

favorite  "  Seasons,"  from  which,  in  the  presence  of  the  very 
charms  which  Thomson  describes,  the  ardent  youth  derived 
new  pleasure  and  inspiration. 

The  trade  difficulty  was  got  over  by  his  becoming  an  appren- 
tice for  the  remaining  three  years  of  his  minority  to  a  Mr. 
Duddridge,  brother  to  George's  former  landlord.  At  the  n\i ••-. 
of  twenty  he  was  left  alone  in  London,  George  having  rein 
to  Bury  St.  Edmund's  in  his  own  county,  and  Nathaniel  having 
married  and  gone  into  housekeeping.  Robert  now  took  to  tho 
study  of  music,  and  became  an  expert  player  on  the  violin.  At 
the  age  of  twenty-four  he  married  the  daughter  of  a  boat- 
builder  at  Woolwich  named  Church.  "  I  have  sold  my  fiddle 
and  got  a  wife,"  he  humorously  writes  to  his  brother.  At  first 
his  home  was  in  furnished  lodgings,  but  by  dint  of  hard  work 
and  strict  economy  he  managed  in  a  short  time  to  furnish  one 
room  on  the  first  floor  of  a  house  in  Bell  Alley,  Coleman  Street, 
the  old  quarters  to  which  he  had  come  fresh  from  the  country 
on  his  first  becoming  a  shoemaker.  Ills  landlord  kindly 
allowed  him  the  free  use  of  a  garret  to  work  in  during  the  day. 
"  In  this  garret,"  says  his  brother,  "  amid  six  or  seven  other 
workmen,  his  active  mind  employed  itself  in  composing  the 
4  Farmer's  Boy.'  '  How  long  his  mind  was  occupied  in  this 
task  we  cannot  tell.  One  could  hardly  wonder  if  the  process 
of  composition  was  slow  in  the  midst  of  such  distracting  and 
unfavorable  circumstances.  The  marvel  is  that  it  should  have 
been  composed  at  all  under  such  uncongenial  and  difficult  con- 
ditions. So  hard  pressed  for  time  was  the  poor  poet-shoe- 
maker, and  so  unable  to  find  the  proper  materials  for  writing, 
that  he  is  said  to  have  made  up  and  kept  in  his  mind  no  less 
than  600  lines,  that  is,  about  the  half  of  his  poem,  before  he 
could  manage  to  write  it  down.  And  when  he  did  this,  he  was 
glad  to  lay  hold  of  any  odd  scrap  of  paper  for  the  purpose  ;  the 
back  of  a  letter  or  a  printed  bill,  the  margin  of  newspapers, 
pieces  of  pattern-paper,  were  seized  as  they  came  to  hand  and 
covered  with  writing,  and  then  hidden  away  in  cupboards,  and 
occasionally  even  in  some  chink  in  the  wall,  until  they  could  be 
collected  and  arranged  for  a  fair  copy,  suitable  to  go  into  the 
hands  of  the  printer.  It  was  indeed  a  wonderful  exhibition  of 
mental  abstraction  and  retentive  memory.  Few,  even  among 
poets,  could  have  wrought  to  any  purpose  amid  the  din  and 
conversation  of  a  shoemakers7  workroom,  and  still  fewer,  even 
if  the  excitement  of  poetic  thought  had  enabled  them  to  com- 
pose, could  have  treasured  up  their  productions  in  the  memory 


ROBERT   BLOOMFIELD.  99 

until  they  amounted  to  600  lines.  A  friend  of  Bloomfield 
named  Swan,  writing  to  Mr.  Cape!  Lofft,  says,  "  Bloomfield, 
either  from  the  contracted  state  of  his  pecuniary  resources  to 
purchase  paper,  or  for  other  reasons,  composed  the  latter  part 
of  '  Autumn  '  and  the  whole  of  '  Winter  '  in  his  head,  without 
committing  one  line  to  paper  !  This  cannot  fail  to  surprise  the 
literary  world,  who  are  well  acquainted  with  the  treacherous- 
ness  of  memory,  and  how  soon  the  most  happy  ideas,  for  want 
of  sufficient  quickness  in  writing  down,  are  lost  in  the  rapidity 
of  thought.  But  this  is  not  all — he  went  a  step  further  ;  he 
not  only  composed  and  committed  that  part  of  his  work  to  his 
faithful  and  retentive  memory  ;  but  he  corrected  it  all  in  his 
head  !  !  ! — and,  as  he  said,  when  it  was  thus  prepared,  '  I  had 
nothing  to  do  but  to  write  it  down.'  By  this  new  and  won- 
derful mode  of  composition,  he  studied  and  completed  his 
rmer's  Boy,'  in  a  garret,  among  six  or  seven  of  his  fellow- 
workmen,  without  their  ever  once  suspecting  or  knowing  any- 
thing of  the  matter  !"  * 

Bloomfield  was  thirty-two  years  of  age  when  his  poem  was 
complete  and  attempts  were  being  made  to  find  a  printer  and 
publisher.  These  attempts  were  for  a  time  fruitless.  One 
after  another  the  publishers  rejected  the  **  copy"  of  the  un- 
known writer.  At  length,  it  was  sent  by  George  Bloomfield, 
who  always  had  full  confidence  in  Robert's  powers,  to  a  gentle- 
man of  literary  tastes  living  at  Troston  Hall,  near  Bury,  in 
Suffolk — Mr.  Capel  Lofft.  This  gentleman  had  the  good  sense 
at  once  to  perceive  the  genuine  merits  of  the  poem  submitted 
to  his  judgment,  and  to  recommend  its  publication.  By  his 
kind  influence  and  aid  a  publisher  was  soon  found.  Messrs. 
non  <fc  Hood  paid  the  poet  £50  for  his  copy,  and  afterward, 
when  the  poem  proved  a  success,  honorably  advanced  an  addi- 
tional £200,  besides  giving  the  author  an  interest  in  his  copy- 
right. 

The  success  of  the  poem  was  immediate  and  complete.  It 
was  warmly  received  by  the  public,  and  praised  in  all  quarters 
as  a  masterpiece  of  natural  poetic  simplicity  and  beauty. 
Twenty-six  thousand  copies  were  sold  in  the  first  three  years  of 
its  issue,  seven  editions  having  been  called  for.  The  position 
secured  by  the  "  Farmer's  Boy"  on  its  first  publication  has 
been  held  until  the  present  day.  All  lovers  of  poetry  read  it 

*"  Lives  of  Eminent  Englishmen,"  Fullarton  &  Co.,  1838.  Tol. 
Tiii,  p.  245.  See  also  «'  Views  Ulustiative  of  Works  of  Robert  Bloom- 
field,"  by  E.  W.  Brayley.  London  :  1806,  p.  17. 


lUU  ILLt'STRK)i;,S    SUOKMAKKIJS. 

with  delight.  It  is  natural  and  graceful  as  the  song  of  a  bird 
"  warbling  his  native  woodnotes  wild."  When  the  English 
song-bird  sings  in  captivity  there  seems  to  be  a  touch  of  pathos 
in  his  note  ;  and  one  can  hardly  resist  the  same  impression  in 
reading  these  sweet  rustic  melodies  in  verse  which  came  from 
the  lips  of  the  shoemaker-poet  imprisoned  in  a  London  garret. 
Yet  there  is  something  much  more  stimulating  in  Bloomfield's 
lines  than  this.  They  are  sweet  and  joyous,  and  full  of  that 
glowing  enthusiasm  for  beauty  which  all  fine  natures  feel.  Be- 
sides the  editions  sent  forth  in  this  country,  the  "  Farmer's 
Boy0  was  printed  at  Leipsic,  and  was  translated  into  French, 
Italian,  and  Latin. 

Bloomfield  now  had  many  friends  as  well  as  admirers.  The 
I) like  of  Grafton,  on  whose  estate  he  had  been  employed  as  a 
boy,  settled  upon  him  a  small  annuity,  and  used  his  iiifluencc  to 
obtain  for  him  a  post  at  the  seal-office  at  Is.  per  day.  In 
addition  to  this,  Bloomfield  received  frequent  presents  from 
the  nobility,  and  even  from  members  of  the  royal  family.  To 
the  poor  shoemaker,  accustomed  to  the  utmost  obscurity,  all 
this  success,  and  popularity,  and  patronage  "  appeared,"  to  use 
his  own  language,  4k  like  a  dream." 

In  after-years  he  issued  a  number  of  small  volumes  of  poetry, 
in  which  are  found  several  shorter  pieces  of  great  merit,  such 
as  the  two  descriptive  or  ballad  pieces  "  Richard  and  Kate," 
"  The  Fakenham  Ghost,"  or  the  exquisitely  simple  piece  called 
"  The  Soldier's  Return."  The  first  of  these  is  one  of  the  best 
modern  ballads  in  the  language,  as  it  is  certainly  among  the 
most,  if  it  be  not  the  most,  spirited  and  original  of  his  compo- 
sitions. Of  the  last  of  the  three  just  mentioned,  Professor 
Wilson  says  :  "  The  topic  is  trite,  but  in  Mr.  Bloomfield's 
hands  it  almost  assumes  a  character  of  novelty.  Burns'  *  Sol- 
dier's Return  '  is  not,  to  our  taste,  one  whit  superior." 

The  titles  of  the  volumes  that  followed  that  by  which  his 
fame  was  established  are  "  Rural  Tales,"  published  in  1801  ; 
"The  Banks  of  the  Wye,"  1811  ;  "Wild  Flowers,"  and 
"  May  Day  with  the  Muses,"  1822.  "  Hazelwood  Hall,  a 
Village  Drama,  in  Three  Acts,"  was  published  1823,  the  year 
of  his  death.  All  these  poems  have  since  been  issued  in  one 
volume,  to  which  is  attached  a  short  sketch  of  the  poet's  life, 
and  the  circumstances  which  attended  the  publication  of  "  The 
Farmer's  Boy."  This  account,  given  by  Mr.  Capel  Lofft, 
Bloomfield's  kind  friend  and  patron,  is  full  of  interest.  It 
serves  to  show  the  value  of  a  judicious^  friend  to  a  young 


KOBEKT    liLUUMFIELU.  101 

aspirant  for  literary  fame,.whose  talents  deserve  recognition,  but 
whose  position  in  life  prevents  him  taking  the  necessary  steps 
to  become  known  to  the  world. 

The  last  twenty  years  of  Bloomfield's  life  were  embittered  by 
affliction  and  misfortunes  in  business.  He  did  not  long  retain 
his  position  at  the  Seal  Office,  being  obliged  to  abandon  it 
through  continual  ill-health.  After  resuming  the  trade  of  a 
shoemaker  for  a  short  time,  he  was  induced  to  open  a  shop  as 
a  bookseller,  but  this  speculation  brought  him  only  disappoint- 
ment and  loss.  His  son,  wiio  was  a  printer,  states  that  about 
this  time  the  poets  Rogers  and  Southey  took  a  deep  interest  in 
the  welfare  of  their  poor  suffering  brother  poet.  Rogers,  it 
seems,  tried  to  obtain  him  a  government  pension,  but  without 
success.  At  length  he  removed  from  London  to  try  the  effect 
of  the  fresh  air  and  quietude  of  country  life.  His  last  years 
were  spent  as  a  shoemaker  at  Shefford-cum-Campton,  Bed's. 
Toward  the  close  of  his  life  he  was  in  great  want  and  distress, 
having  reaped  little  permanent  gain  from  his  numerous  and 
popular  poems.  So  intense  was  the  strain  of  mind  he  endured 
from  overwork,  ill-health,  and  anxiety,  that  his  friends  enter- 
tained grave  fears  of  his  becoming  insane.  Death  was  prefera- 
ble to  such  a  life  the  death  which  is  for  men  of  Christian  faith 
and  character,  like  Bloomfield,  the  gate  to  a  higher  and  happier 
life.  Providentially  for  him,  that  gate  was  opened  when  life 
here  had  become  a  burden  too  grievous  to  be  borne.  He  died 
at  Shefford,  in  the  fifty-seventh  year  of  his  age,  August  19th, 
1823,  and  was  buried  in  the  Campton  churchyard. 

Bloomfield's  character,  unlike  that  of  many  of  the  more  cele- 
brated poets  of  his  own  day,  exhibited  a  fair  and  lovely  type  of 
moral  excellence.  He  was  genuinely  modest,  affectionate,  in- 
dustrious, and  pious.  None  regarded  him  with  more  respect 
and  love  than  those  who  knew  him  most  intimately.  This  fact 
speaks  strongly  for  his  real  worth.  His  own  brothers  held  him 
in  the  greatest  esteem,  and  felt  the  most  generous  and  hearty 
pleasure  in  his  literary  success.  His  generosity  to  his  needy 
relatives,  who  were  very  numerous,  often  crippled  his  resources, 
and,  indeed,  left  him  at  times  as  poor  as  those  he  had  be- 
friended. We  have  noticed  how  much  he  owed  in  early  life  to 
the  loving  care  and  good  sense  of  an  excellent  mother.  Bloom- 
field  never  lost  sight  of  this  fact.  Like  all  good  men,  men 
whose  lives  are  worth  study  and  imitation,  he  was  deeply 
attached  to  his  mother;  and  it  is  well  deserving  of  record  that, 
like  Buckle,  the  eminent  philosophical  writer,  the  young  poet 


102  ILLUSTRIOUS   SHOEMAKERS. 

felt  a  more  exquisite  pleasure  in  placing  his  first  published  work 
in  the  hands  of  his  mother  than  in  the  anticipation  of  any  fame 
or  advantage  it  might  secure  for  himself  as  the  author.  When 
the  first  edition  was  issued  a  copy  of  it  was  sent  to  his  mother, 
accompanied  by  these  simple  lines,  which  faithfully  reflect  at 
once  the  character  of  the  true  mother  and  the  devoted  son  : 

"  *  To  peace  and  virtue  still  be  true,' 

An  anxious  mother  ever  cries, 
Who  needs  no  present  to  renew 
Parental  love — which  never  dies." 

Many  tributes  of  esteem,  both  in  prose  and  verse,  were  paid 
to  Bloomfield  during  his  life  and  after  his  death.  None  of 
these  was  of  more  value  than  the  brief  sentence  written  by  his 
constant  friend  and  first  literary  patron,  Mr.  Capel  Lofft,  who 
says,  "  It  is  much  to  be  a  poet,  such  as  he  will  be  found  :  it  is 
much  more  to  be  such  a  man."  The  lines  which  appeared  in 
Blackwood* s  Magazine,  the  month  after  Bloomfield's  death, 
exactly  describe  the  chief  features  of  the  poet's  life  and  work  : 

"  No  pompous  learning— no  parade 

Of  pedantry,  and  cumbrous  lore, 
On  thy  elastic  bosom  weighed  ; 

Instead,  were  thine  a  mazy  store 
Of  feelings  delicately  wrought, 
And  treasures  gleaned  by  silent  thought. 

Obscurity,  and  low-born  care, 

Labor,  and  want — all  adverse  things, 

Combined  to  bow  thee  to  despair  ; 
And  of  her  young  untutored  wings 

To  rob  thy  genins.     'Twas  in  vain  : 

With  one  proud  soar  she  burst  her  chain  ! 

The  beauties  of  the  building  spring  ; 

The  glories  of  the  summer's  reign  ; 
The  russet  autumn  triumphing 

In  ripened  fruits  and  golden  grain  ; 
Winter  with  storms  around  his  shrine, 
Each,  in  their  turn,  were  themes  of  thine. 

And  lowly  life,  the  peasant's  lot. 
Its  humble  hopes  and  simple  joys  ; 

By  mountain-stream  the  shepherd's  cot, 
And  what  the  rustic  hour  employs  ; 

White  flocks  on  Nature's  carpet  spread  ; 

Birds  blithely  carolling  o'erhead  ; 


ROBERT   BLOOMFIELD.  103 


These  were  thy  themes,  and  thou  wert  blessed — 
Yes,  blessed  beyond  the  wealth  of  kings. 

Calm  joy  is  seated  in  the  breast 
Of  the  rapt  poet  as  he  sings, 

And  all  that  Truth  or  Hope  can  bring 

Of  Beauty,  gilds  the  muse's  wing. 

And,  Bloomfield,  thine  were  blissful  days, 
(If  flowers  of  bliss  may  thrive  on  earth); 

Thine  were  the  glory  and  the  praise 
Of  genius  linked  with  modest  worth  ; 

To  wisdom  wed,  remote  from  strife, 

Calmly  passed  o'er  thy  stormless  life." 

During  the  lifetime  of  Bloomfield,  another  young  and  ob- 
scure poet,  Henry  Kirke  White  of  Nottingham,  was  indebted 
to  Bloomfield' s  patrons,  Mr.  Lofft  and  Robert  Southey,  for  his 
introduction  to  the  public.  After  reading  "  The  Farmer's 
Boy"  and  "  Rural  Tales,"  White  wrote  the  following  clever 
epigram,  the  sentiment  of  which  all  admirers  of  the  shoemaker- 
poet  will  heartily  indorse  : 

"  Bloomfield,  thy  happy  omened  name 
Ensures  continuance  to  thy  fame  ; 
Both  sense  and  truth  this  verdict  give, 
While  fields  shall  bloom,  thy  name  shall  live." 


SAMUEL    DREW,    M.  A. 


j&amuei 

THE    METAPHYSICAL    SHOEMAKER. 


"Secure  to  yourself  a. livelihood  independent  of  literary  success,  and 
put  into  this  lottery  only  the  overplus  of  time.  Woe  to  him  who  depends 
wholly  on  his  pen !  Nothing  is  more  casual.  The  man  who  makes  shoes 
is  sure  of  his  wages :  the  man  who  writes  a  book  is  never  sure  of  any- 
thing. " — Marmontel. 

"  Hereafter,  I  believe,  some  metaphysical  Columbus  will  arise,  traverse 
vast  oceans  of  thought,  and  explore  regions  now  undiscovered,  to  which  our 
little  minds  and  weak  ideas  do  not  enable  us  to  soar." — Samuel  Drew. 


SAMUEL  DREW. 

THE  life  of  Samuel  Drew,  the  author  of  a  once  famous  book, 
"  The  Immateriality  and  Immortality  of  the 'Soul,"  is  in  some 
respects  as  remarkable  a&  that  of  William  Gifford,*  and  in 
others  even  more  so.  For  Drew,  unlike  Gifford,  received  no 
collegiate  training,  nor  was  he  ever  favored  with  the  rudiments 
of  education  in  an  ordinary  boys'  school.  In  his  childhood  he 
was  sent  to  a  school  along  with  his  brothers,  but  his  childish  in- 
difference to  learning  and  his  removal  before  he  was  eight  years 
of  age  prevented  his  making  any  progress  worth  speaking  of. 
His  life,  published  by  his  son,  speaks  of  him,  with  perfect 
truth,  as  the  "  Self-Taught  Cornishman." 

His  reply  to  Paine' s  *'  Age  of  Reason,"  and  his  book  on  the 
"  Immortality  of  the  Soul,"  both  of  which  were  written  and 
issued  from  the  press  during  his  life  as  a  shoemaker,  brought 
him  into  notoriety,  and  obtained  for  him  a  name  as  an  acute 
thinker  and  able  controversialist.  He  afterward  published 
several  theological  works  of  great  merit,  edited  and  wrote  the 
chief  portion  of  a  history  of  Cornwall,  and  finally  became  an 
editor  on  the  staff  of  the  Caxton  press  in  Liverpool  and  Lon- 
don. His  contributions  to^the  literature  of  his  own  religious 
denomination,  the  Wesleyan  Methodists,  were  very  numerous  ; 
and  for  many  years  he  was  a  constant  writer  in  the  Eclectic 
Review.  From  the  beginning  to  the  close  of  his  public  life  he 
was  held  in  high  esteem  as  a  preacher  in  the  "  circuits"  of 
Cornwall,  Liverpool,  and  London.  The  two  universities  of 
Aberdeen  and  London  paid  him  a  valuable  compliment  ;  the 
one  conferring  on  him  the  degree  of  A.M.,  and  the  other, 
through  certain  members  of  the  council,  requesting  him  to  be 
put  in  competition  for  the  Chair  of  Moral  Philosophy. 

But  before  all  these  things  he  was  an  earnest,  high-souled, 
useful  Christian  man,  who  found  his  principal  delight  in  diffus- 
ing around  him  the  influence  of  a  good  example  and  a  benevo- 
lent Christ-like  spirit.  His  best  memorials  were  inscribed  on 
the  hearts  of  the  people  among  whom  he  spent  his  valuable  life. 
His  writings  may  now  be  but  little  read,  and  his  name  but  lit- 

*  See  Chapter  IV.,  William  Gifford. 


110  ILLUSTRIOUS   SHOEMAKERS. 

tie  known  outside  the  Christian  community  to  which  he  was  at- 
tached, yet  he  made  a  record  as  a  faithful  servant  of  God  that 
will  never  perish,  and  obtained  a  memorial  for  his  name  that  is 
safe  against  all  the  influence  of  time  and  change. 

The  subject  of  this  sketch  was  born  at  St.  Austell,  in  Corn- 
wall, on  the  3d  March,  1765.  His  parents  were  both  members 
of  families  long  resident  in  Cornwall.  They  were  in  but  poor 
circumstances,  the  father  being  employed  chiefly  as  a  farm- 
laborer.  Now  and  then  he  worked  in  connection  with  the  tin 
mines  of  the  neighborhood.  Hard  work,  scant  fare,  and  great 
economy  were  necessary  to  enable  the  parents  to  bring  up  their 
young  family  respectably.  We  may  judge  of  their  circum- 
stances by  the  fact  that  the  father  found  it  not  at  all  an  easy 
thing  to  carry  out  a  worthy  determination  he  had  formed  to 
send  his  three  children  to  school,  where  the  fee  for  each  scholar 
was  only  one  penny  per  week.  Little  Sammy's  progress  hardly 
compensated  for  this  small  outlay,  for  he  was  dull  and  careless 
and  shockingly  fond  of  playing  truant.  However,  his  school 
life  did  not  last  long.  He  was  removed  at  the  age  of  eight,  as 
already  stated,  and  put  to  work  as  a  buddle-boy.  The  pits  in 
which  the  tin-ore  is  washed  after  being  broken  up  are  called 
buddies,  and  it  was  the  business  of  the  buddle-boy  to  stir  up  the 
sediment  of  ore  and  metal  at  the  bottom  of  the  pit,  in  order 
that  the  stream  of  water  which  passed  through  it  might  carry 
off  the  sandy  particles  and  leave  the  mineral  behind.  For  this 
work  Samuel  was  to  receive  three  halfpence  a  week.  But  the 
poor  little  fellow  was  early  taught  the  meaning  of  the  terms 
"  bad  debt"  and  "  failure  in  business."  His  master  kept  the 
wages  back,  intending  to  pay  them,  as  was  customary,  to  the 
father.  At  the  end  of  eight  weeks  the  employer  failed,  and 
Samuel  never  received  his  first  instalment  of  wages.  When 
another  man  took  the  business,  shortly  after,  the  boys  were  paid 
twopence  per  week,  and  for  the  two  years  in  which  he  continued 
at  this  work,  the  little  buddle-boy  never  received  more  than  this 
miserable  pittance.  It  must  be  confessed  that  Samuel  was  a 
wilful,  headstrong  fellow.  The  circumstances  which  led  to  his 
removal  from  home  were  hardly  to  his  credit.  His  own  mother 
died  when  he  was  nine  years  old.  She  was  a  good  woman,  and 
took  great  pains  to  save  her  boy  from  the  bad  influence  of  low 
company  at  the  tin-works.  Samuel,  though  young  and  reck- 
less, cherished  a  deep  regard  for  his  mother.  About  a  year  and 
a  half  after  her  death  the  father  married  again,  and  Samuel, 
not  liking  the  idea  of  having  a  4<  new  mother,"  made  himself 


SAMUEL   DREW.  Ill 

as  obnoxious  to  her  as  he  could.  This  improper  conduct  could 
not  be  permitted,  and  it  was  especially  wrong  in  this  instance, 
as  the  "  new  mother"  was  very  attentive  and  kind  to  the 
children. 

"  At  the  age  of  ten  and  a  half,"  says  his  biographer,  Samuel 
"  was  apprenticed  for  nine  years  to  a  shoemaker,  living  in  a 
sequestered  hamlet  about  three  miles  from  St.  Austell.  His 
father  and  family  at  this  time  were  not  far  distant,  but  remov- 
ing soon  after  to  Polpea,  in  Tywardreath,  the  poor  lad's  inter- 
course with  his  relatives  was,  in  a  great  measure,  suspended,  and 
he  felt  the  loneliness  of  his  situation." 

Drew's  apprenticeship  life  was  well-nigh  as  miserable  and  un- 
profitable as  it  could  be.  In  an  account  of  the  hardships  he 
endured  at  this  time  he  himself  says  :  "  My  new  abode  at  St. 
Blazey  and  new  engagements  were  far  from  being  agreeable. 
To  any  of  the  comforts  and  conveniences  of  life  I  was  an  entire 
stranger,  and  by  every  member  of  the  family  was  viewed  as  an 
underling,  come  thither  to  subserve  their  wishes,  or  obey  their 
mandates.  To  his  trade  of  shoemaker  my  master  added  that 
of  farmer.  He  had  a  few  acres  of  ground  under  his  care,  and 
was  a  sober,  industrious  man  ;  but,  unfortunately  for  me, 
nearly  one  half  of  my  time  was  taken  up  in  agricultural  pur- 
suits. On  this  account  I  made  no  proficiency  in  my  business, 
and  felt  no  solicitude  to  rise  above  the  farmers'  boys  with  whom 
I  daily  associated.  While  in  this  place  I  suffered  many  hard- 
ships. When,  after  having  been  in  the  fields  all  day,  I  came 
home  with  cold  feet,  and  damp  and  dirty  stockings,  I  was  per- 
mitted, if  the  oven  had  been  heated  during  the  day,  to  throw 
them  into  it,  that  they  might  dry  against  the  following  morn- 
ing ;  but  frequently  have  I  had  to  put  them  on  in  precisely  the 
same  state  in  which  I  had  left  them  the  preceding  evening. 
To  mend  my  stockings  I  had  no  one,  and  frequently  have  I 
wept  at  the  holes  which  I  could  not  conceal  ;  though,  when 
fortunate  enough  to  procure  a  needle  and  some  worsted,  I  have 
drawn  the  outlines  of  the  holes  together,  and  made,  what  I 
thought,  a  tolerable  job." 

i4  During  my  apprenticeship,"  he  continues,  "  many  bicker- 
ings and  unpleasant  occurrences  took  place.  Some  of  these 
preyed  so  much  on  my  mind,  that  several  times  I  had  deter- 
mined to  run  away  and  enlist  on  board  a  privateer  or  man-of- 
war.  ' '  He  seems  to  have  had  little  inclination  for  reading  dur- 
ing these  unhappy  days  ;  and  if  he  had  been  disposed  for  study 
there  were  but  few  books  within  his  reach.  Accident  put  into 


112  ILLUSTRIOUS    SHOEMAKERS. 

his  hands  a  few  odd  numbers  of  a  publication  circulated  in  the 
West  of  England  called  The  Weekly  Entertainer.  He  read 
and  re-read  the  histories  of  "  Paul  Jones,"  "  The  Serapis," 
and  "  Bon  Homme  Richard, "  until  his  imagination  was  in- 
flamed with  the  thought  of  joining  a  pirate,  and  leading  the 
jolly  abandoned  life  of  a  sea-rover.  Such  reading  as  this  did 
very  little  good  for  him.  The  only  other  book  he  seems  to 
have  met  with  during  these  days  of  servitude  was  "  an  odd 
number  of  the  '  History  of  England  '  about  the  time  of  the 
Commonwealth."  But  this  spell  of  reading  lasted  only  a  short 
time.  The  odd  volume  of  history,  which  charmed  him  at  first, 
soon  grew  monotonous  and  wearisome,  and  was  thrown  aside. 
"  With  this,"  he  says,  "  I  lost  not  only  a  disposition  for  read- 
ing, but  almost  the  ability  to  read.  The  clamor  of  my  com- 
panions and  others  engrossed  nearly  the  whole  of  my  attention, 
and,  so  far  as  my  slender  means  would  allow,  carried  me  on- 
ward toward  the  vortex  of  dissipation." 

Much  of  his  time  was  occupied  with  wild  companions, 
among  whom  he  was  foremost  in  daring  and  mischief.  Bird- 
nesting,  orchard-robbing,  and  even  poaching  and  smuggling 
were  resorted  to  for  amusement  and  profit.  On  one  occasion 
he  nearly  lost  his  life  by  following  sea-birds  to  their  haunt  on 
the  edge  of  a  lofty  cliff  overhanging  the  sea.  At  another  time, 
in  the  dead  of  the  night,  when  he  and  a  number  of  men  and 
boys  were  out  on  a  poaching  expedition,  he  and  his  companions 
were  nearly  scared  out  of  their  wits  by  some  apparition,  which 
confronted  them  with  large  fiery  eyes,  and  suddenly  disap- 
peared. 

Spite  of  these  doubtful  amusements  his  life  at  St.  Blazey  was 
becoming  intolerable.  He  compares  his  position  to  that  of  "  a 
toad  under  a  harrow  ;"  and  declares  that  his  master  and  mis- 
tress seemed  bent  on  degrading  him.  At  last,  when  he  could 
brook  his  degradation  no  longer,  he  resolved  to  abscond,  and 
accordingly,  at  the  age  of  seventeen,  after  enduring  six  and  a 
half  years  of  bondage  and  cruelty,  he  ran  off,  intending  to  go 
to  sea.  But  his  plans  were  happily  frustrated.  On  his  way 
from  St.  Blazey  to  Plymouth  he  called  at  his  old  home,  and  as 
his  father  was  absent  his  stepmother  refused  to  give  him  money 
to  assist  him  in  his  mad  project.  He  then  made  off  for  Plym- 
outh with  only  a  few  pence  in  his  pocket.  Passing  through 
Liskeard  he  chanced  to  meet  with  a  good-natured  shoemaker, 
and  entered  into  an  engagement  as  a  journeyman.  In  a  short 
time  he  was  discovered  in  his  retreat,  and  persuaded  to  return 


SAMUEL   DREW.  113 

to  his  father's  roof.  He  agreed  on  condition  that  he  should 
not  be  sent  back  to  his  old  master.  This  being  arranged,  a  sit- 
uation was  found  for  Drew  at  Millbrook  and  afterward  at 
Kingsand  and  Crafthole. 

It  was  during  his  stay  at  the  last  place  that  the  event  occur- 
red which  led  to  the  most  important  change  in  his  life.  He 
had  often  engaged  in  smuggling  expeditions  during  the  time  of 
his  apprenticeship,  these  unlawful  practices  not  being  regarded 
as  disgraceful  in  out-of-the-way  places  on  the  coast  a  century 
ago.  The  rough  villagers  were  rather  disposed  to  make  a  boast 
of  their  success  in  evading  the  law  ;  and  few,  if  any,  of  their 
neighbors  offered  any  opposition  or  remonstrance.  One  dark 
night  in  December,  1784,  when  Samuel  Drew  was  about  nine- 
teen years  of  ago,  a  vessel  laden  with  contraband  goods  made 
signals  to  have  her  cargo  fetched  on  shore  ;  and  the  daring 
youth  agreed  to  form  one  of  the  boat's  crew  for  this  purpose. 
The  night  was  so  stormy  and  dark  that  the  captain  of  the  vessel 
had  been  obliged  to  stand  off  a  considerable  distance  from  the 
shore.  The  smugglers  were  two  miles  out  at  sea  when  one  of 
their  number,  in  attempting  to  catch  his  hat,  upset  the  boat. 
Three  men  were  immediately  drowned  ;  Drew,  who  was  a  first- 
rate  swimmer,  managed  by  dint  of  the  most  violent  effort  to 
reach  the  rocks,  and  was  picked  up  by  some  of  his  companions 
4  more  dead  than  alive,'  and  carried  to  a  farm-house,  whose  oc- 
cupants were  compelled,  much  against  their  will,  to  allow  the 
half-drowned  youth  to  be  brought  in  and  laid  before  the 
kitchen  fire.  A  keg  of  brandy  from  the  vessel  was  opened,  and 
a  bowlful  of  its  contents  placed  to  his  lips.  He  had  sense 
enough  not  to  drink  much,  though  recklessly  urged  to  swallow 
it  all !  After  lying  by  the  fire  until  circulation  was  pretty  well 
restored,  he  was  able,  with  the  help  of  friendly  arms,  to  crawl 
to  his  lodgings,  a  distance  of  two  miles,  the  ground  being  cov- 
ered with  snow. 

It  was  a  mad  adventure,  and  nearly  cost  him  his  life,  but 
proved,  instead,  the  occasion  of  opening  the  way  to  a  new  life, 
brighter  and  better  and  happier  than  the  one  he  had  spent  in 
thoughtless  and  sinful  amusement.  '4  Alas  !  what  will  be  the 
end  of  my  poor  unhappy  boy  ?"  said  his  father,  on  hearing  of 
Samuel's  narrow  escape.  Very  wisely  it  was  resolved  to  have 
him  removed  from  his  sinful  companions  at  Crafthole,  and  a 
good  situation  was  found  for  him  under  a  steady  master  at  St. 
Austell. 

This  little  town  was  one  of  the  numerous  places  in  Cornwall 


114  ILLUSTRIOUS   SHOEMAKERS. 

that  had  derived  much  benefit  from  the  ministry  of  John  and 
Charles  Wesley  ;  a  "  society "  had  been  formed  and  a  chapel 
built.  Drew  began  to  attend  the  services  in  this  chapel  soon 
after  going  to  live  at  St.  Austell.  Here  he  heard  the  popular 
young  preacher,  a  mere  stripling,  Adam  Clarke,  afterward  well 
known  to  the  world  as  the  learned  commentator,  Dr.  Adam 
Clarke.  The  fervid  discourses  of  this  young  man,  combined 
with  the  effect  produced  by  the  death  of  a  gifted  and  pious 
brother,  which  happened  at  this  time,  brought  about  that  change 
in  Samuel  Drew  which  the  Saviour  speaks  of  as  the  new  birth, 
without  which,  He  tells  us,  no  one  "  can  enter  into  the  king- 
dom of  heaven. ' '  The  change  in  Samuel  Drew  was  complete. 
Body,  mind,  and  spirit  shared  and  rejoiced  in  it.  The  latent 
faculties  of  a  great  mind  and  noble  heart  were  awakened  and 
developed  by  the  heavenly  light  and  heat  which  now  fell  upon 
them.  He  felt  at  once  a  strong  passion  for  self-culture  and  the 
devotion  of  his  gifts  to  useful  purposes.  The  first  thing  was  to 
pick  up  again  his  almost  lost  knowledge  of  the  arts  of  reading 
and  writing  ;  for  describing  his  accomplishments  in  this  way  at 
the  time  of  his  conversion  he  says,  u  I  was  scarcely  able  to  read 
and  almost  totally  unable  to  write.  Literature  was  a  term  to 
which  I  could  annex  no  idea.  Grammar  I  knew  not  the  mean- 
ing of.  I  was  expert  at  trifles,  acute  at  follies,  and  ingenious 
about  nonsense."  As  for  his  writing,  a  friend  compared  it  to 
the  traces  of  a  spider  dipped  in  ink,  and  set  to  crawl  on  paper. 
In  this  respect,  sooth  to  say,  it  was  neither  better  nor  worse 
than  the  writing  of  many  men  whose  education  is  not  supposed 
to  have  been  neglected.  This  description  of  Samuel  Drew's 
accomplishments,  or«  rather  want  of  them,  refers  to  the  begin- 
ning of  the  year  1785,  when  he  was  in  his  twentieth  year.  It 
is  well  to  note  this  fact,  as  it  will  show  how  much  of  his  time 
was  wasted  in  youth,  and  how  great  must  have  been  his  indus- 
try in  the  work  of  self-culture  after  this  date.  Practically  his 
education  did  not  begin  until  he  stood  on  the  threshold  of  man- 
hood, and  even  then  it  was  not  carried  on  in  any  thorough  and 
systematic  fashion.  He  had  to  help  himself  in  the  matter  as 
best  he  could.  At  first  he  had  no  counsellors,  no  store  of  books, 
and  no  well-arranged  course  of  reading.  All  depended  on  his 
good  fortune  in  borrowing  ;  and,  what  proved  in  his  case  as  in 
so  many  others  the  best  thing  in  the  world,  all  depended  on  his 
following  his  own  bent  and  satisfying  his  own  taste  in  the  choice 
of  subjects  for  study.  This  in  the  majority  of  cases  proves  to 
be  the  secret  of  success  in  life.  For  our  taste  for  a  subject  is 


SAMUEL   DREW.  115 

the  result  of  our  having  a  special  aptitude  for  it.  We  like  to 
do  what  comes  easiest  to  us.  The  born  artist,  as  he  is  termed, 
likes  to  draw  and.  sketch  because  he  can  draw  and  sketch  better 
than  he  can  do  anything  else  ;  the  arithmetician  enjoys  work- 
ing out  problems  in  figures  ;  the  poet  loves  to  indulge  his  fancy 
and  clothe  his  imaginations  in  the  guise  of  poetry  ;  and  the 
metaphysician  is  happiest  when  employed  in  the  task  of  defini- 
tion and  reasoning. 

Drew's  capacity,  and  therefore  his  taste,  lay  in  the  direction 
of  metaphysics,  and  it  is  curious  to  notice  how  the  future  logi- 
cian and  theologian  manages  to  make  his  most  ungenial  and  un- 
toward circumstances  as  a  shoemaker  in  an  obscure  country 
town  serve  his  purpose  and  help  him  forward  to  the  accomplish- 
ment of  his  life-destiny.  All  this  was  partly  the  result  of 
natural  gifts  and  partly  the  fruit  of  strenuous  application  and 
toil.  Men  who  have  done  notable  things  in  the  world  have  been 
spoken  of  as  belonging  to  two  classes.  There  is  the  man  who 
41  seems  to  have  what  is  best  in  him  as  a  possession  ;"  and  the 
man  who  "  seems  to  show  that  what  is  regarded  as  an  inspira- 
tion may  come  as  the  result  of  labor. "  *  This  is  but  another 
method  of  stating  the  old  distinction  between  "  genius  and  tal- 
ent." If  Samuel  Drew  must  be  classified  at  all,  we  should  cer- 
tainly place  him  in  the  former  category.  What  was  best  in  him 
was  indeed  a  possession,  not  an  acquirement.  Yefe,  like  all 
men  of  mark,  he  owed  much. to  close  study  and  hard  work. 
Without  these  his  fine  natural  gifts  would  have  been  useless. 

Drew's  master  at  St.  Austell  combined  the  three  somewhat 
kindred  businesses  of  saddler,  shoemaker,  and  bookbinder. 
His  shop  was  also  a  regular  meeting-place  for  the  gossipers  of 
the  town  ;  and  as  St.  Austell  was  then  in  a  ferment  of  religious 
excitement,  most  of  the  talk  ran  on  religious  topics.  The  Cal- 
vinist  and  Arminian  divided  the  field  between  them,  and  in 
their  contests,  sometimes  as  arbiters,  and  sometimes  as  the 
champion  of  a  party,  Drew  was  often  called  in  to  contribute  to 
the  discussion.  Here  he  found  the  first  arena  for  the  exhibi- 
tion of  his  natural  powers  as  a  debater,  and  gained  for  himself 
no  small  renown. 

About  this  time  also  a  book  came  in  his  way,  which  seems  to 
have  made  a  revolution  in  his  mind.  This  was  Locke's  famous 
' 4  Essay  on  the  Human  Understanding, ' '  a  copy  of  which  was 
brought  to  Drew's  master's  to  be  bound.  The  young  shoe- 

*Athenceum,  No.  2770,  Nov.  27, 1880.  p.  719. 


116  ILLL'STKLOt'S    SHOKMAKKKS. 

maker  had  read  nothing  of  the  kind.  It  opened  to  his  mind  a 
world  of  thought  that  was  new  to  his  experience,  yet  one  that 
seemed  familiar  on  account  of  his  natural  aptitude  for  such 
studies.  He  read  the  luminous  pages  of  the  great  philosopher 
with  the  utmost  avidity.  Henceforth  reading  became  with  him 
an  intense  appetite.  Nothing  came  much  amiss,  but  such 
books  as  led  him  into  the  ample  domains  of  philosophy  and 
religion  afforded  the  greatest  delight.  He  says,  "  This  book 
(Locke's  Essay)  set  all  my  soul  to  think.  ...  It  gave  the 
first  metaphysical  turn  to  my  mind,  and  I  cultivated  the  little 
knowledge  of  writing  which  I  had  acquired  in  order  to  put 
down  my  reflections.  It  awakened  me  from  my  stupor,  and  in- 
duced me  to  form  a  resolution  to  abandon  the  grovelling  views 
which  I  had  been  accustomed  to  entertain." 

For  two  years  after  the  change  we  have  noticed  Drew  con- 
tinued working  industriously  at  his  trade,  and  rilling  up  all  his 
spare  moments  by  reading  such  books  as  came  to  the  shop  to 
be  bound,  or  any  others  he  could  borrow  from  friends.  At- 
tracted by  one  science  after  another,  and  rinding,  as  most  eager 
minds  do,  a  charm  in  each,  he  finally  settled  to  metaphysics, 
because,  as  he  sometimes  shrewdly  observed,  among  other  rec- 
ommendations it  has  this,  that  it  requires  fewer  books  than 
other  branches  of  study,  and  may  be  followed  at  the  least  ex- 
pense. *4  It  appeared  to  be  a  thorny  path  ;  but  I  determined 
nevertheless  to  enter  and  begin  to  tread  it,"  he  remarks  ;  and 
adds,  "  To  metaphysics  I  then  applied  myself,  and  became 
what  the  world  and  Dr.  Clarke  call  a  METAPHYSICIAN." 

By  the  advice  and  help  of  friends  he  resolved,  in  January, 
1787,  to  commence  business  on  his  own  account.  His  savings 
at  this  time  amounted  to  only  fourteen  shillings.  He  was  there- 
fore compelled  to  borrow  capital,  or  remain  a  journeyman.  It 
was  not  difficult,  however,  to  find  a  man  in  St.  Austell  who  was 
willing  to  trust  the  now  steady  and  hard-working  shoemaker. 
A  miller  advanced  him  £5  on  the  security  of  his  good  character, 
saying,  "  And  more  if  that's  not  enough,  and  I'll  promise  not 
to  demand  it  till  you  can  conveniently  pay  me."  Fortunately 
for  him,  at  this  time  Dr.  Franklin's  "  Way  to  Wealth  "  came 
into  his  hands,  and  impressed  him  deeply  with  its  sage  maxims 
and  sound  principles  of  business  and  thrift.  On  one  maxim, 
though  severe,  he  often  at  this  time  acted  literally,  u  It  is  bet- 
ter to  go  supperless  to  bed  than  to  rise  in  debt."  The  account 
which  he  gives  of  the  hard  work  and  rigid  economy,  and  the 
good  fruits  they  bore,  during  his  first  year's  experience  of  busi 


SAMUEL    DREW.  117 

ness,  is  highly  creditable  to  him,  and  will  he  best  told  in  his 
own  words  :  "  Eighteen  hours  out  of  the  twenty-four  did  I  regu- 
larly work,  and  sometimes  longer,  for  my  friends  gave  me 
plenty  of  employment,  and  until  the  bills  became  due  I  had  no 
means  of  paying  wages  to  a  journeyman.  I  was  indefatigable, 
and  at  the  year's  end  I  had  the  satisfaction  of  paying  the  five 
pounds  which  had  been  so  kindly  lent  me,  and  finding  myself, 
with  a  tolerable  stock  of  leather,  clear  of  the  world. "  This 
wise  resolve  to  pay  his  way  and  to  live  within  his  means,  so  vig- 
orously carried  out  from  the  very  beginning,  was  of  the  utmost 
service  to  him  all  through  life,  and  saved  him  from  the  worry 
and  discredit  by  which  so  many  men  of  genius  and  literary  gifts 
have  been  hampered  and  thwarted  in  their  work.  When  once 
the  resolute  shoemaker  had  made  a  fair  start  and  conquered  the 
difficulties  of  early  business-life,  he  was  always  at  liberty  to  de- 
vote his  mind  to  his  favorite  pursuits.  He  was  poor  enough,  it 
is  true  ;  but  he  was  comparatively  independent,  for  he  was  free 
from  debt.  Nor  did  he  forget  others  in  their  need.  Many 
stories  are  told  of  his  generosity.  He  was  never  rash  and  prod- 
igal in  his  giving,  but  acted  on  the  best  rules  of  common  sense 
and  high  principle.  He  would  not  give  while  he  was  himself 
in  debt,  sticking  closely  to  the  rule,  "  Be  just  before  you  are 
generous,"  yet  never  making  that  wise  adage  a  cloak,  as  some 
do,  for  stinginess.  Nothing  could  be  mere  characteristic  of  his 
wisdom  and  kindliness  than  the  story  told  by  his  sister  of  his 
coming  home  after  being  invited  to  dinner  with  a  friend,  and 
saying,  "  The  people  at  the  place  where  I  have  been  very  kindly 
invited  me  to  dinner  ;  I  can  now  honestly  give  away  my  own. 
Bring  out  what  meat  you  have  left  ;  cut  from  it  as  much  as  you 
think  I  should  have  eaten,  and  carry  it  to  Alice  H. "  At  an- 
other time  he  observed  a  poor  woman,  "  with  an  empty  basket 
on  one  arm  and  a  child  on  the  other,  looking  wistfully  at  the 
butchers'  stalls  ;"  and  adds,  "  I  guessed  from  her  mariner  that 
she  had  no  money,  and  was  ashamed  to  ask  credit  :  so  as  I 
passed  her  I  put  half  a  crown  into  her  hand.  The  good  woman 
was  so  affected  that  she  burst  into  tears,  and  I  could  not  help 
crying  for  company. "  Having  been  enabled  to  start  in  busi- 
ness by  a  loan  of  money,  he  showed  his  gratitude  by  helping 
others  in  the  same  position,  and,  strange  to  say,  a  change  of 
fortune  having  overtaken  his  old  friend,  the  miller,  Drew  had 
the  satisfaction  of  helping  him  in  his  time  of  need. 

An  incident  which  happened  about  this  time  will  show  to 
what  dangers  his  social  disposition  and  fondness  for  debate  ex- 


118  ILLUSTRIOUS   SHOEMAKERS. 

posed  him,  and  how  slight  an  incident  saved  him  from  the 
snare.  He  had  become  enamoured  of  political  matters,  and  dis- 
cussed them  very  vigorously  with  his  customers  and  others  who 
made  his  work-room  a  meeting-place  where  they  might  hear  and 
debate  the  latest  news.  Sometimes  these  discussions  drew  him 
from  home  into  the  house  of  a  neighbor,  and  so  absorbed  his 
time  that  he  found  himself  at  the  end  of  the  day  far  behind  in 
his  work,  and  obliged  to  sit  up  till  midnight  in  order  to  finish 
it.  One  night,  however,  he  received  a  severe  rebuke  from 
some  anonymous  counsellor,  which  effectually  put  a  stop  to  this 
bad  habit.  As  he  sat  at  work  after  most  of  the  neighbors  were 
in  bed,  he  heard  footsteps  at  the  door,  and  presently  a  boy's 
shrill  voice  accosted  him  through  the  keyhole  with  this  sage  re- 
mark :  "  Shoemaker,  shoemaker,  work  by  night,  and  run  about 
by  day  !"  "  And  did  you/'  inquired  a  friend  to  whom  Drew 
told  the  story,  "  pursue  the  boy  and  chastise  him  for  his  inso- 
lence ?"  "  No,  no,"  replied  Drew,  who  had  the  wisdom  to 
see  that  there  was  more  fault  in  himself  than  the  boy,  and  had 
also  the  moral  courage  and  firmness  of  character  to  turn  the  an- 
noyance to  profitable  account — "  No,  no.  Had  a  pistol  been 
fired  off  at  my  ear  I  could  not  have  been  more  dismayed  or  con- 
founded. I  dropped  my  work,  saying  to  myself,  '  True,  true, 
but  you  shall  never  have  that  to  say  of  me  again  !'  '  Right 
well  did  he  keep  to  his  resolve,  and  with  what  results  we  shall 
see. 

In  1791,  at  the  age  of  twenty-seven,  he  married  Honor  Halls 
of  St.  Austell,  and  now,  fairly  settled  in  his  domestic  affairs,  he 
devoted  his  attention  and  leisure  time,  such  as  he  could  snatch 
from  intervals  of  work,  to  careful  reading  and  thought  on  phil- 
osophical and  religious  subjects.  His  first  literary  productions 
were,  according  to  rule  in  such  cases,  in  the  shape  of  poetry. 
"  An  Ode  to  Christmas,"  dated  1791,  and  "  Reflections  on  St. 
Austell  Churchyard,"  dated  1792,  appear  to  have  been  his  ear- 
liest attempts.  Though  he  had  fine  poetic  feeling  and  consid- 
erable readiness  in  expression,  he  was  not  destined  to  shine  in 
this  field  of  literature.  His  first  venture  in  print  was  entitled 
"  Remarks  on  Paine's  *  Age  of  Reason.'  "  This  infidel  work 
by  the  notorious  Tom  Paine  had  many  readers  and  great  influ- 
ence among  the  working  class  at  the  close  of  the  last  century. 
It  appears  that  a  young  surgeon  who  had  been  in  the  habit  of 
visiting  the  thoughtful  and  well-read  shoemaker,  had  procured 
a  copy  of  the  "  Age  of  Reason,"  and  had  read  and  endorsed 
its  atheistic  doctrines.  He  strongly  urged  Drew  to  read  the 


SAMUEL    DREW.  119 

book,  in  order  that  they  might  discuss  its  contents  together. 
The  two  disputants  met  night  after  night,  the  shoemaker  attack- 
ing and  the  surgeon  defending  the  principles  of  the  famous 
intide!  book.  At  length  the  discussion  came  to  an  end  by 
the  surgeon  giving  up  his  faith  in  Voltaire,  Kousseau,  Gibbon, 
Hume,  and  Tom  Paine,  and  accepting  the  teaching  and  consola- 
tion of  the  religion  of  Jesus  Christ.  The  young  man  died  soon 
after  this  occurrence,  and  confessed  to  the  great  service  which 
had  been  rendered  him  by  Samuel  Drew  in  removing  doubt  and 
laying  the  basis  for  Christian  faith.  On  showing  his  notes  of 
this  discussion  to  two  Wesleyan  preachers  then  stationed  at  St. 
Austell,  he  was  advised  to  publish  them,  and  did  so  in  1799. 
This  pamphlet  had  a  rapid  sale.  It  was,  as  we  have  said, 
Drew's  introduction  to  the  world  of  literature,  and  it  brought 
him  no  little  fame  and  credit  in  the  religious  world  of  his  day. 
Great  was  the  astonishment  evinced  when  it  was  known  that  the 
writer  of  what  was  deemed  a  masterly  piece  of  argument  in 
good,  clear,  forcible  English  was  a  "  cobbler"  and  an  entirely 
self-taught  man.  The  flattering  reception  and  notice  given  to 
this  pamphlet  emboldened  him  in  the  following  year  to  venture 
on  the  publication  of  an  ode  on  the  death,  by  accident,  of  an 
influential  townsman.  A  literary  friend,  who  had  praised  his 
tirst  attempt  very  highly,  spoke  so  plainly  yet  kindly  of  this 
production  that  Drew  very  wisely  abandoned  the  muse  and 
stuck  to  metaphysics  and  prose.  In  the  same  year  also  he 
wrote  a  pamphlet  which,  in  the  locality  of  St.  Austell,  at  all 
events,  sustained  his  fame.  This  was  a  reply  to  some  asper- 
sions cast  on  the  Wesleyan  Methodists  by  a  clergyman,  the 
then  vicar  of  Manaccan,  Cornwall.  So  completely  did  the 
worthy  Methodist  local  preacher  disprove  the  statements  of  the 
clergyman,  and  withal  in  so  temperate  a  spirit,  that  the  latter 
eventually  not  only  confessed  his  defeat  in  a  generous  and  manly 
spirit,  but  very  gracefully  acknowledged  his  obligations  to  his 
humble  antagonist.  Drew  had  now  a  greater  task  in  hand 
which  was  drawing  near  its  completion.  For  several  years  ho 
had  occupied  his  mind  with  the  subject  of  the  immortality  of 
the  soul,  having  read  every  book  he  could  procure  on  the  sub- 
ject. None  of  these  books  quite  satisfied  him.  "  He  imag- 
ined," as  he  says,  that  the  immortality  of  the  soul  admitted  of 
more  rational  proof  than  he  had  ever  seen.  Accordingly  in 
1798  he  resolved  to  make  notes  of  his  thoughts  on  this  vast 
theme.  In  1801  these  were  fully  prepared  for  the  press  and 
submitted  to  the  judgment  of  the  judicious  friend  referred  to 


120  ILLUSTRIOUS   SHOEMAKERS. 

above — Rev.  John  AVhittaker,  of  Ruan  Lanyhorne,  in  Corn- 
wall. By  his  advice  Drew  committed  the  work  to  the  press, 
with  the  title,  "  The  Immateriality  and  Immortality  of  the 
Soul."  It  was  published  by  subscription  ;  "  the  best  fam- 
ilies" in  the  county  giving  their  names  as  subscribers.  The  first 
edition  numbered  700  copies,  of  which  subscriptions  were  en- 
tered for  640.  A  few  weeks  after  its  publication,  Drew  re- 
ceived a  letter  from  a  publisher  in  Bristol  asking  the  author  to 
state  his  terms  for  the  copyright.  Twenty  pounds  and  thirty 
copies  of  the  new  edition  was  all  he  asked,  so  little  did  he  sus- 
pect the  popularity  his  work  would  attain,  and  so  low  did  he 
rate  his  own  abilities  as  an  author.  A  pleasing  circumstance 
deserves  mention  here  in  connection  with  the  appearance  of  the 
first  edition  of  this  essay.  A  highly  favorable  review  of  it  ap- 
peared in  the  Anti-Jacobin,  which  Drew  afterward  discovered 
to  have  been  written  by  no  other  than  Mr.  Polwhele,  the  cler- 
gyman whose  pamphlet  anent  the  Wesleyans  Drew  had  so  reso- 
lutely and  successfully  attacked.  Such  an  act  of  grace  was  in- 
finitely creditable  to  the  critic  as  well  as  gratifying  to  the 
author.  In  regard  to  the  history  of  this  essay,  the  following 
note,  written  by  Samuel  Drew's  son,*  is  full  of  interest  : 
"  After  passing  through  five  editions  in  England  and  two  in 
America,  and  being  translated  and  printed  in  France,  the  '  Es- 
say on  the  Soul/  the  copyright  of  which  Mr.  Drew  had  disposed 
of  on  the  terms  just  named,  and  which,  before  its  first  appear- 
ance, a  Cornish  bookseller  had  refused  at  the  price  of  ten 
pounds,  became  again  his  property  at  the  end  of  twenty-eight 
years.  He  gave  it  a  final  revision,  added  much  important  mat- 
ter, and  sold  it  a  second  time  for  £250." 

The  literary  reputation  of  the  metaphysical  shoemaker  was 
now  established.  Journals  and  reviews  spoke  in  terms  of  high 
praise.  Literary  men,  clergymen,  and  ministers  of  various  de- 
nominations, wrote  in  congratulatory  terms,  and  proffered 
friendship  and  assistance.  The  best  libraries  in  the  locality 
were  placed  at  his  service,  and  invitations  or  visits  came  so  thick 
upon  him,  that  the  modest  shoemaker  was  at  times  fairly  bewil- 
dered by  them.  A  little  book,  issued  in  1803,  the  year  after 
Drew's  essay  appeared,  brought  his  circumstances  before  the 
public.  It  was  entitled,  '  *  Literature  and  Literary  Characters 
of  Cornwall,"  and  was  edited  by  the  above-named  Mr.  Polwhele. 
To  this  book  Drew,  by  request  of  the  editor,  sent  a  short  auto- 

*  Samuel  Drew,  M.A.,  the  self-taught  Cornishman."  By  his  Eldest 
Son.  P.  102.  London  :  Ward  &  Co. 


SAMUEL   DREW.  121 

* 

biographical  sketch.  "  His  lowly  origin, "  says  his  son,  "  and 
humble  situation  being  thus  made  public,  the  singular  contrast 
which  it  presented  to  his  growing  literary  fame  attracted  much 
attention.  St.  Austell  became  noted  as  the  birthplace  and  res- 
idence of  Mr.  Drew,  and  strangers  coming  into  the  county  for 
the  gratification  of  their  curiosity  did  not  consider  that  object 
accomplished  until  they  had  seen  '  the  metaphysical  shoe- 
maker/ '  Referring  to  those  flattering  attentions,  he  once 
shrewdly  observed  :  "  These  gentlemen  certainly  honor  me  by 
their  visits  ;  but  I  do  not  forget  that  many  of  them  merely  wish 
to  say  that  they  have  seen  the  cobbler  who  wrote  abook." 

The  following  picture  of  the  literary  shoemaker  during  this 
period  of  his  life  must  not  be  omitted  here,  for  it  gives  us  a 
glimpse  of  his  method  of  working  at  this  time  when  employed 
on  his  double  task  "  of  making  boots  and  books.  It  recalls  the 
sketch  given  in  the  life  of  Bloomfield,  much  of  whose  poetry 
was  composed  under  similar  conditions.  Indeed,  it  were  hard 
to  say  who  had  the  worst  of  it,  the  poet  in  the  crowded  garret 
or  the  theologian  in  the  noisy  kitchen.  The  first  paragraph  is 
written  by  Samuel  Drew  himself,  and  the  second  by  his  son. 

"  During  my  literary  pursuits  I  regularly  and  constantly  at- 
tended on  my  business,  and  I  do  not  recollect  that  through 
these  one  customer  was  ever  disappointed  by  me.  My  mode  of 
writing  and  study  may  have  in  them,  perhaps,  something  pe- 
culiar. Immersed  in  the  common  concerns  of  life,  I  endeavor 
to  lift  my  thoughts  to  objects  more  sublime  than  those  with 
which  I  am  surrounded  ;  and,  while  attending  to  my  trade,  I 
sometimes  catch  the  fibres  of  an  argument  which  I  endeavor  to 
note,  and  keep  a  pen  and  ink  by  me  for  that  purpose.  In  this 
state  what  I  can  collect  through  the  day  remains  on  any  paper 
which  I  may  have  at  hand  till  the  business  of  the  day  is  de- 
spatched and  my  shop  shut,  when,  in  the  midst  of  my  family, 
I  endeavor  to  analyze  such  thoughts  as  had  crossed  my  mind 
during  the  day.  I  have  no  study,  I  have  no  retirement.  I 
write  amid  the  cries  and  cradles  of  my  children  ;  and  frequently 
when  I  review  what  I  have  written,  endeavor  to  cultivate  4  the 
art  to  blot.'  Such  are  the  methods  which  I  have  pursued,  and 
such  the  disadvantages  under  which  I  write." 

"  His  usual  seat,"  adds  his  son,  "  after  closing  the  business 
of  the  day,  was  a  low  nursing-chair  beside  the  kitchen-fire. 
Here,  with  the  bellows  on  his  knees  for  a  desk,  and  the  usual 
culinary  and  domestic  matters  in  progress  around  him,  his 
works,  prior  to  1805,  were  chiefly  written." 


122  ILLUSTRIOUS   SHOEMAKERS. 

tf 

Samuel  Drew's  life  as  a  shoemaker  came  to  an  end  with  the 
year  1805.  It  will  not  be  possible  for  us  to  give  in  detail  the 
events  which  fill  up  the  remainder  of  his  honorable  career. 
Nor  is  it  needful  ;  the  chief  interest  of  his  history  lies  in  that 
portion  of  it  which  shows  us  the  self-taught  Coruishman  plying 
his  lowly  craft  while  he  lays  the  foundation  for  his  fame  as  a 
theologian.  His  preaching  engagements  were  very  numerous 
from  the  time  when  he  was  first  put  on  the  Wesleyan  preachers' 
"plan,"  and  they  were  never  suspended  until  within  a  few 
weeks  of  his  death.  His  status  as  a  local  preacher  was  of  the 
very  best,  and  frequently  brought  him  into  the  company  of  the 
leading  men  of  his  denomination.  His  friendship  with  Mr., 
now  Dr.,  Adam  Clarke,  one  of  the  leading  men  among  the 
Wesleyans,  had  been  maintained  from  the  time  when  Clarke 
was  on  the  St.  Austell  circuit.  The  good  name  acquired  by 
Drew  as  a  literary  man,  and  his  high  standing  among  his  own 
religious  society,  led  to  his  appointment  under  Dr.  Coke,  the 
founder  of  the  Wesleyan  Methodist  Missions.  The  shoemaker 
now  abandoned  the  awl  and  last  for  the  pen,  and  devoted  him- 
self, as  a  secretary  and  joint-editor,  entirely  to  literary  work. 
He  assisted  Dr.  Coke  in  preparing  for  the  press  his  "  Com- 
mentary on  the  New  Testament,"  "  History  of  the  Bible,"  and 
other  works.  In  1806,  through  Dr.  Adam  Clarke's  influence, 
Drew  began  to  contribute  to  the  Eclectic  Review.  Before  he 
had  abandoned  the  shoemaker's  stall  the  materials  for  another 
theological  work  had  been  collected  and  partly  prepared  for 
publication.  Having  treated  the  question  of  the  Immortality 
of  the  Soul,  he  had  wished,  and  was  strongly  urged  by  several 
clerical  friends,  to  take  up  the  subject  of  the  4<  Identity  and  Res- 
urrection of  the  Human  Body."  A  work  bearing  this  title  ap- 
peared in  1809,  having  been  submitted  in  manuscript  to  his  old 
friends  the  Revs.  Mr.  Whittaker  and  Mr.  Gregor,  and  to  Arch- 
deacon Moore.  It  was  not  a  little  remarkable  that  men  of  this 
class  should  have  been  the  foremost  to  patronize  and  aid  the 
Methodist  shoemaker  in  his  .literary  enterprises,  and  that  one 
of  them  should  call  himself  t4  friend  and  admirer,"  while  an- 
other spoke  of  feeling  '4  a  pride  and  pleasure  in- being  employed 
as  the  scourer  of  his  armor."  The  most  extensive  work  Drew 
ventured  to  publish  was  entitled  "  A  Treatise  on  the  Being  and 
Attributes  of  God."  This  was  undertaken  at  the  earnest  solic- 
itation of  Dr.  Reid,  then  Professor  of  Oriental  Languages  at 
the  Marischal  College,  Aberdeen,  as  a  competition  for  a  prize 
of  £1500  offered  for  the  best  essay  on  that  subject.  Though 


SAMUEL   DREW.  123 

this  work  failed  to  gain  the  first  place  in  the  list,  it  stood  very 
high,  and,  certainly,  it  was  no  small  testimony  to  its  worth 
that  it  should  have  been  deemed  worthy  to  rank  as  a  close  com- 
petitor with  the  successful  works  of  Dr.  A.  M.  Brown,  Principal 
of  Marischal  College,  and  the  Rev.  J.  B.  Sumner,  afterward 
Bishop  of  Chester  and  Archbishop  of  Canterbury.  Drew's 
treatise  was  not  published  till  1820,  when  it  came  out  in  two 
octavo  volumes.  In  1813  he  published  a  controversial  pam- 
phlet on  the  Divinity  of  Christ,  which  had  a  large  sale,  and  for 
which,  such  was  the  value  now  set  on  his  writings,  his  pub- 
lisher, Mr.  Edwards,  paid  as  much  as  he  had  previously  given 
for  the  Essay  on  the  Soul.  Under  the  direction  of  F.  Hitch- 
ens,  Esq.,  of  St.  Ives,  Drew  now  took  up  a  laborious  task  which 
had  been  in  that  gentleman's  hands  for  several  years,  and 
brought  it  to  completion.  This  was  the  publication  of  a  His- 
tory of  Cornwall.  It  appeared  in  1815-17,  and  consisted  of 
1500  quarto  pages,  all  of  which  "  was  sent  to  the  printer  in 
his/1  Drew's,  "  own  manuscript."  At  the  request  of  the  ex- 
ecutors of  Dr.  Coke,  Drew  published  a  memoir  of  his  friend, 
whic'h  appeared  in  1817.  This  task  made  a  visit  io  London 
necessary.  Here  the  learned  shoemaker  met  with  the  Rev. 
Legh  Richmond,  author  of  "  The  Dairyman's  Daughter/'  and 
with  Dr.  Mason  of  New  York.  He  was,  of  course,  asked  to 
preach  in  several  London  "  circuits/'  where  his  fame  as  a 
writer  had  preceded  him.  His  '*  uncouth  and  unclerical  ap- 
pearance," for  he  wore  top-boots  and  light-colored  breeches, 
excited  no  small  curiosity  ;  but  his  excellent  preaching  and  de- 
lightful simplicity  and  modesty  of  manner  awoke  universal  re- 
spect. The  preacher  was  fifty  years  of  age  (1815)  when  he 
paid  this  visit  to  the  metropolis,  and  it  was  the  first  time  he  had 
travelled  more  than  a  few  miles  from  the  locality  where  he  was 
born. 

But  a  journey  of  more  importance  still  was  taken  in  1819, 
when  he  went  down  to  Liverpool  to  negotiate  for  the  editorship 
of  a  new  magazine  to  be  issued  from  the  Caxton  Establishment, 
then  in  the  hands  of  Mr.  Fisher.  Drew  was  finally  engaged  as 
permanent  editor  on  this  establishment,  and  the  publication  of 
which  he  had  the  management,  bearing  the  title,  The  Imperial 
Magazine,  became  a  complete  success.  Though  sold  at  one 
shilling,  it  had  a  circulation  of  7000  during  the  first  year.  The 
destruction  of  the  premises  by  fire  compelled  the  removal  of  the 
Caxton  Establishment  to  London,  where  Drew  remained  at  the 
post  of  editor  for  the  rest  of  his  life.  In  1824  the  degree  of 


1X;4  ILLUSTRIOUS.  SHOEMAKERS. 

A.M.  was  conferred  on  him  by  the  Marischal  College,  Aber- 
deen. We  have  alluded  to  the  request  made  by  some  members 
of  the  Council  of  the  London  University,  that  he  would  allow 
himself  to  be  nominated  for  the  Chair  of  Moral  Philosophy. 
This  request  was  made  in  1830  ;  but  Samuel  Drew,  who  was 
now  sixty-five  years  of  age,  was  beginning  to  feel  the  effects  of 
his  long  life  of  hard  work,  and  to  sigh  for  rest.  His  chief 
wish  was  to  end  his  days  in  his  native  county,  among  the  scenes 
of  his  boyhood  and  youth,  and  amid  the  associations  that  clus- 
tered round  the  place  where  he  had  first  learned  to  think  and 
write,  and  make  for  himself  a  name  in  the  world  of  letters. 
This  wish  was  hardly  fulfilled  ;  for,  holding  on  to  his  daily 
routine  of  office  work  from  year  to  year  in  the  hope  of  retiring 
with  a  competence  for  himself  and  his  children,  he  was  at 
length  compelled  on  2d  March,  1333,  the  last  day  of  his  sixty- 
eighth  year,  to  lay  down  his  pen.  His  life-work  was  now  over. 
Within  a  few  days  he  left  London  for  the  home  of  his  daughter 
at  Helston  in  Cornwall,  where  on  the  29th  of  March  he  died. 
It  was  his  comfort,  during  the  last  days  of  his  life,  to  be  sur- 
rounded by  a  circle  of  deeply  attached  relatives,  and  on  several 
occasions,  when  his  head  was  supported  by  one  of  his  children, 
he  repeated  the  lines  of  his  favorite  poem,  the  "  Elegy"  by 
Gray  : 

"  On  some  fond  breast  the  parting  soul  relies  : 
Some  pious  drops  the  closing  eye  requires." 

His  faith  in  the  doctrine  of  the  Immortality  of  the  Soul,  which 
he  had  so  ably  advocated,  afforded  him  profound  consolation  in 
his  last  hours.  On  the  day  before  his  death  he  said,  with  all 
the  eagerness  of  keen  anticipation,  "  Thank  God,  to-morrow  I 
shall  join  the  glorious  company  above  !" 

Monuments  to  his  memory  were  erected  over  the  grave  in 
Helston  Churchyard,  and  in  the  Wesleyan  chapel  and  parish 
church  at  St.  Austell.  On  each  of  these  the  inhabitants  of  his 
native  town  and  county  bore  strong  testimony  to  the  affection 
and  regard  felt  by  all  who  knew  him  for  the  "  self-taught  Cor- 
nish metaphysician. ' ' 


WILLIAM   CAREY,  D.  D. 


OTarcg, 


THE    SHOEMAKER    WHO    TRANSLATED    THE    BIBLE    INTO 
BENGALI    AND    HINDOSTANI. 


"Xo,  sir!  only  a  cobbler." — Dr.  William  Carey. 

"  I  am  indeed  poor,  and  shall  always  be  so  until  the  Bible  is  published 
in  Bengali  and  Hindostani,  and  the  people  want  no  further  instruction." — 
Dr.  William  Carey,  Letter  from  India,  1794. 


WILLIAM  CAREY. 

BETWEEN  the  years  1786  and  1789,  when  William  Gifford, 
just  liberated  by  the  generous  interference  of  a  friend  from  the 
yoke  of  apprenticeship  to  a,  cruel  master,  was  receiving  in- 
struction frorrAhe  Rev.  Thomas  Smerdon,  when  Robert  Bloom- 
field,  a  journeyman  shoemaker  in  London,  was  preparing  in  his 
mind  the  materials  for  the  '*  Farmer's  Boy,"  and  when  Samuel 
Drew,  the  young  shoemaker  of  St.  Austell,  was  reading  "  Locke 
on  the  Understanding, "  and  learning  to  think  and  reason  as  a 
metaphysician,  there  lived  at  Moulton  in  Northamptonshire  a 
poor  shoemaker,  school-teacher,  and  village  pastor,  who  was 
cherishing  in  his  great  heart  the  project  of  forming  a  society 
for  the  purpose  of  sending  out  Christian  missionaries  to  the 
heathen  world.  This  poor  young  man,  in  spite  of  his  obscure 
position,  his  meagre  social  influence,  his  limited  resources,  and 
his  lack  of  early  educational  advantages,  became  the  originator 
of  the  great  foreign  missionary  enterprises  which  constitute  so 
remarkable  a  feature  in  the  religious  history  of  this  country  at 
the  close  of  the  last  and  the  beginning  of  the  present  century. 
He  was  the  first  missionary  chosen  to  be  sent  out  by  the  com- 
mittee of  the  society  he  had  been  the  means  of  establishing. 
His  field  of  labor  was  India,  where  for  more  than  forty  years, 
"  without  a  visit  to  England  or  even  a  voyage  to  sea  to  recruit 
his  strength,"  and  without  losing  a  vestige  of  his  early  enthu- 
siasm for  his  Christian  enterprise,  he  toiled  on  at  the  work  of 
preaching  the  gospel  and  translating  the  Sacred  Scriptures. 
From  1801  to  1830,  Ii3  was  Professor  of  Oriental  Languages  in 
a  college  founded  at  Fort  William  by  the  Marquis  of  Wellesley, 
Governor-General  of  India.  As  an  Oriental  linguist  he  had  few 
equals  in  his  day,  and  few  have  ever  exceeded  him  in  the 
extent  and  exactitude  of  his  acquaintance  with  the  languages  of 
India.  He  compiled  grammars  and  dictionaries  in  Mahratta, 
Sanskrit,  Punjabi,  Telugu,  Bengali,  and  Bhotana.  But  his 
chief  work  was  the  translation  of  the  Scriptures  into  Bengali 
and  other  languages.  No  less  than  twenty-four  different  trans- 
lations of  the  Bible  were  made  and  edited  by  him,  and  passed 
through  the  press  at  Serampore  under  his  supervision.  One 


130  ILLUSTRIOUS   SHOEMAKERS. 

account  speaks  of  "  two  hundred  thousand  Bibles,  or  portions 
thereof,  in  about  forty  Oriental  languages  or  dialects,  besides  a 
great  number  of  tracts  and  other  religious  works  in  various  lan- 
guages ;"  and  adds  that  "  a  great  proportion  of  the  actual  liter- 
ary labor  involved  in  these  undertakings  was  performed  "  by 
this  prodigious  worker.  A  truly  noble  life-work  was*  this  for 
any  man.  It  may  be  questioned  if  more  work  of  a  solid  and 
useful  character  was  ever  pressed  into  one  human  life.  Wliat 
monarch  or  ruler  of  a  vast  empire,  what  statesman  or  judge, 
what  scientific  or  literary  worker,  what  man  of  genius  in  busi- 
ness or  the  professions,  has  ever  thrown  more  Energy  into  his 
life-work  or  achieved  more  worthy  results  for  all  his  toil  than 
this  humble  shoemaker  and  village  pastor  from  Northampton- 
shire, who  first  gave  to  the  various  races  of  Northern  India  the 
Bible  in  their  own  language  ? 

No  one  who  is  at  all  familiar  with  the  work  of  the  Christian 
Church  in  the  present  century,  will  need  to  be  told  that  we  are 
speaking  of  the  famous  pioneer  missionary  to  Bengal,  Dr.  Wil- 
liam Carey.  And  surely  no  list  of  illustrious  shoemakers  would 
be  complete  that  did  not  include  the  name  of  this  good  man. 
His  experience  of  the  *'  gentle  craft  "  was  somewhat  extensive. 
He  was  bound  apprentice  to  the  trade,  and  afterward  worked 
as  a  journeyman  for  more  than  twelve  years.  When  he  became 
known  to  the  world,  he  was  often  spoken  of  as  "  the  learned 
shoemaker."  Indeed,  he  was  not  always  honored  with  so  re- 
spectful a  title  as  this.  More  often  than  not  he  was  alluded  to 
as  "  the  cobbler, "  and  his  own  strict  honesty  and  modesty  of 
spirit  led  him  to  prefer  the  latter  epithet.  His  humble  origin 
and  occupation  were  sometimes  the  occasion  of  an  empty  sneer 
on  the  part  of  men  whose  class  feeling  and  religious  prejudice 
prevented  their  appreciation  of  his  splendid  mental  gifts  and 
high  purpose  in  life,  and  who  consequently  endeavored,  but  in 
vain,  to  bring  his  grand  and  Christ-like  undertaking  into  con- 
tempt. That  famous  wit,  the  Rev.  Sydney  Smith,  sometime 
prebendary  of  Bristol  and  canon  of  St.  Paul's,  tried  to  set  the 
world  laughing  at  the  u  consecrated  cobbler/'  It  was  a  sorry 
joke,  and  quite  unworthy  of  a  Christian  minister,  and  must  have 
been  sorely  repented  of  in  after-years.  One  would  have 
thought  that  Sydney  Smith's  undoubted  piety,  and  natural 
kindliness  of  heart,  let  along  his  strong  bias  in  favor  of  all  that 
was  liberal  in  religion  and  politics,  would  have  saved  him  from 
such  a  cruel  and  flippant  sneer.  But  wit  is  a  brilliant  and  dan- 
gerous weapon,  and  few  men  know  how  to  use  it  as  much  as 


WILLIAM   CAREY.  131 

* 

Sydney  Smith  did  without  injury  to  their  own  reputation  or 
the  feelings  of  other  people. 

Carey,  as  we  have  said,  did  not  object  to  being  called  a 
"  cobbler,"  although  the  term  did  not  accurately  describe  his 
degree  of  proficiency  in  the  trade.  It  was  reported  in  North- 
amptonshire that  he  was  a  poor  workman,  the  neighbors  declar- 
ing that  though  he  made  boots,  he  "  could  never  make  a 
pair."  *  In  a  letter  to  Dr.  Ryland  he  contradicts  this  report 
and  says  :  "  The  childish  story  of  my  shortening  a  shoe  to 
make  it  longer  is  entitled  to  no  credit.  I  was  accounted  a  very 
good  workman,  and  recollect  Mr.  Old  keeping  a  pair  of  shoes 
which  I  had  made  in  his  shop  as  a  model  of  good  workman- 
ship.'7 He  cautiously  adds,  "  But  the  best  workmen  some- 
times, from  various  causes,  put  bad  work  out  of  their  hands, 
and  I  have  no  doubt  but  I  did  so  too."  f  This  is  more  than 
likely,  for  he  was  subject  to  long  fits  of  mental  abstraction  as  he 
sat  at  the  stall  : 

"His  eyes 
Were  with  his  heart,  and  that  was  far  away." 

He  pined  for  the  field  of  missions  and  chafed  against  the  cruel 
"  bars  of  circumstance"  that  kept  him  in  his  native  land. 
While  engaged  in  shoemaking,  he  was  so  intent  on  learning 
Latin,  Greek,  and  Hebrew  that  he  often  forgot  to  fit  the  shoes 
to  the  last.  No  wonder  if  shoes  were  not  "  a  pair,"  and  were 
sometimes  returned  ;  no  wonder  that  while  he  became  one  of 
the  first  linguists  in  the  world  in  his  day  he  was  spoken  of  by 
his  neighbors  as  nothing  more  than  "  a  cobbler  !"  With  ref- 
erence to  his  poor  abilities  in  the  craft  a  good  story  is  told  of 
the  way  in  which  he  silenced  an  officious  person  whose  "  false 
pride  in  place  and  blood"  had  betrayed  him  into  some  dis- 
paraging remarks  about  Carey  as  a  shoemaker.  His  biog- 
rapher J  says  :  "  Some  thirty  years  after  this  period,  dining 
one  day  with  the  Governor-General,  Lord  Hastings,  at  Barrak- 
pore,  a  general  officer  made  an  impertinent  inquiry  of  one  of 

*  "Baptist  Jubilee  Memorial."  London  :  Simpkin,  Marshall,  1842, 
p.  83. 

f"  Memoir  of  Dr.  Carey,"  by  the  Rev.  Eustace  Carey.  London  : 
Jackson  &  Walford,  2d  edition,  1837,  p.  16. 

J  J.  C.  Marshman,  in  "  The  Story  of  Carey,  Marshman,  and  Ward  ;" 
London,  J.  Heaton  &  Sons,  1864,  p.  6.  See  also  an  account  of 
Carey's  life  and  work  in  ' '  The  Missionary  Keepsake  and  Annual, "  by 
Eev.  John  Dyer  ;  London,  Fisher  &  Co.,  1837  ;  and  "  The  Life  of  Dr. 
Carey,"  by  the  Rev.  Eustace  Carey  ;  London,  1837. 


132  ILLUSTRIOUS   SHOEMAKERS. 

4 

the  aides-de-camp  whether  Dr.  Carey  had  not  once  been  a  shoe- 
maker. He  happened  to  overhear  the  conversation,  and  im- 
mediately stepped  forward  and  said,  "  No,  sir  ;  only  a  cob- 
bler !" 

In  the  brief  story  we  have  to  tell  of  the  life  of  this  remarka- 
ble man,  we  shall,  as  seems  most  appropriate  to  our  purpose, 
confine  our  remarks  almost  entirely  to  the  work  he  accomplished 
before  he  ceased  to  be  a  shoemaker.  His  father  and  grand- 
father held  the  position  of  parish  clerk  and  schoolmaster  at 
Pury,  or  Paulersbury,  in  Northamptonshire,  where  William 
Carey  was  born,  17th  August,  1761.  His  only  education  was 
received  in  the  village  school,  and  this  was  very  slight  and  rudi- 
mentary ;  yet  it  was  sufficient  to  give  him  a  start  in  the  work 
of  educating  himself.  As  a  boy  he  was  always  fond  of  reading, 
and  chose  such  books  as  referred  to  natuial  history.  Botany 
and  entomology  were  favorite  subjects.  His  bedroom  was 
turned  into  a  sort  of  museum,  chiefly  remarkable  for  butterflies 
and  beetles.  Of  books  of  travel  and  accounts  of  voyages  he 
never  seems  to  have  wearied  ;  the  history  and  geography  of  any 
country  also  afforded  him  special  delight.  lie  was  a  bright, 
active,  good-looking,  intelligent  boy,  by  no  means  a  recluse 
and  bookworm,  caring  nothing  for  out-door  exercise  and 
sports.  He  was  as  fond  of  games  as  any  boy  in  the  village,  and 
as  clever  at  them,  and  so  became  a  general  favorite.  His  quick- 
ness of  intellect  and  perseverance  with  any  hobby  he  took  up 
often  led  the  neighbors  to  predict  success  for  him  in  future 
life.  The  perseverance  and  courage,  which  were  such  marked 
features  of  his  character  as  a  man,  were  shown  in  his  boyhood 
by  a  curious  incident.  Attempting  to  climb  a  tree  one  day,  he 
fell  and  broke  his  leg,  and  was  an  invalid  for  six  weeks.  As 
soon  as  he  could  crawl  to  the  bottom  of  the  garden,  he  made 
his  way  to  the  very  tree  from  which  he  had  fallen,  climbed  to 
the  top  of  it,  and  brought  down  one  of  the  highest  branches, 
which  he  carried  into  the  house,  exclaiming,  "  There,  I  knew 
I  would  do  it  !" 

At  the  age  of  twelve  he  showed  the  first  signs  of  a  taste  and 
capacity  for  the  acquisition  of  languages.  A  copy  of  Dyche's 
Latin  Grammar  and  Vocabulary  had  come  into  his  hands,  and 
he  at  once  set  to  work,  of  his  own  free  will  and  choice,  to  study 
the  introductory  portion,  and  to  commit  all  the  Latin  words, 
with  their  meanings,  to  memory.  Such  an  incident  as  this  was 
quite  enough  to  show  that  he  was  a  boy  of  no  common  mind, 
and  that  he  would  well  repay  any  outlay  that  might  be  made  in 


WILLIAM   CAREY.  133 

giving  him  a  classical  training.  But  that  was  out  of  the  ques- 
tion ;  the  village  school  could  not  afford  such  a  training,  and 
anything  better,  in  the  shape  of  grammar-school  or  college,  was 
not  to  be  had,  for  his  friends  were  poor  and  had  no  patrons  to 
assist  them.  What  he  might  have  done  in  an  university  it  is 
idle  to  suppose.  Undoubtedly,  he  would  have  distinguished 
himself,  but  it  may  be  reasonably  doubted  whether  he  would 
have  been  led  into  the  path  of  Christian  philanthropy  and  use- 
fulness which  the  stress  of  circumstances  at  Moulton  led  him  to 
think  and  adopt.  It  must  have  been  painful  for  his  parents, 
with  their  sense  of  the  boy's  merits  and  ambition  as  a  scholar, 
to  see  him  languishing  at  hoine,  unable  to  find  sufficient  food 
for  his  hungry  and  capacious  young  mind,  while  they  also  were 
unable  to  satisfy  his  passion  for  books,  or  send  him  to  a  school 
adequate  to  his  requirements.  And  doubly  painful  must  it  have 
been  for  him  as  for  them,  when  they  felt  that  the  time  had 
come  for  him  to  learn  a  trade,  and  the  thought  of  further 
schooling  must  be  given  up. 

One  can  imagine  his  feelings  when  told  that  he  must  be  ap- 
prenticed to  a  shoemaker.  Not  that  such  an  occupation  was 
necessarily  a  bugbear  to  a  boy  in  his  position,  for  thousands  of 
village  lads  would  not  have  regarded  it  in  that  light  ;  but  it 
was  so  to  him.  His  heart  had  been  set  on  a  very  different  kind 
of  occupation.  He  was  eager  for  study,  and  felt  within  him 
the  movement  of  an  impulse  to  do  something  great  in  the 
world,  and  this  apprenticeship  was  a  bitter  disappointment,  sad- 
dening his  young  heart,  and  quenching  for  a  time  all  his  bright 
hopes.  But  only  for  a  time  did  he  lose  heart.  He  was  one  of 
those  who  are  no  friends  to  despair,  who  do  not  understand 
defeat,  and  whose  spirit  and  determination  rise  in  the  face  of 
difficulties.  It  was  not  to  be  expected  in  his  circumstances  that 
life  could  offer  him  any  position  of  greater  honor  or  advantage 
than  a  cobbler's  stool.  He  would  not,  therefore,  murmur  at 
his  necessary  lot.  He  would  rather  take  to  it  with  as  good  a 
grace  as  possible,  and  make  the  best  of  it.  He  would  use  every 
means  and  chance  of  self-improvement,  and  if  he  could  not 
have  his  heart's  desire  in  the  way  he  had  intended,  he  would 
have  it  in  some  other  way  ;  anyhow  he  would  have  it.  A 
broken  purpose  should  no  more  stand  in  the  way  of  his  climb- 
ing the  "  tree  of  knowledge"  than  a  broken  leg  had  prevented 
his  climbing  to  the  top  of  the  tree  in  his  father's  garden. 

So  he  settled  to  his  work  with  Charles  Nickolls  of  Hackleton 
at  the  age  of  fourteen,  with  no  prospect  but  that  of  being 


134  ILLUSTRIOUS    SHOEMAKERS. 

bound  to  wield  the  awl  and  bend  over  the  last  until  he  had  come 
to  be  twenty-one  years  of  age.  Soon  after  entering  the  shoe- 
maker's room  he  found  a  copy  of  the  New  Testament,  in  the 
notes  to  which  occurred  a  number  of  Greek  words.  This 
opened  up  another  field  of  study,  and  he  determined  to  enter 
upon  it.  Copying  out  the  words,  he  took  them  for  explanation 
to  a  young  man  who  was  a  weaver  in  the  village  where  his 
father  lived.  This  weaver  came  from  Kidderminster,  had  seen 
better  days,  and  had  received  a  good  education.  He  assisted 
young  Carey,  then  fifteen  years  of  age,  in  mastering  the  rudi- 
ments of  Greek.  With  such  a  start  he  did  not  rest  until  he 
had  procured  and  could  read  the  Greek  New  Testament.  In 
the  second  year  of  his  apprenticeship  his  indentures  were  can- 
celled  on  account  of  the  death  of  his  master,  and  Carey  became 
a  journeyman,  of  course  at  very  low  wages,  under  Mr.  Old.  At 
this  time  there  lived  in  the  neighborhood  a  clergyman  who  was 
one  of  the  lights  of  a  dark  period  in  the  religious  history  of 
this  country — the  Rev,  Thomas  Scott,  the  popular  evangelical 
preacher,  writer,  and  Bible  commentator,  llis  own  career  was 
very  remarkable.  From  the  position  of  a  laboring  man  he  had 
risen  to  oocupy  good  rank  as  a  clergyman,  and  with  very  mea- 
gre advantages  in  early  life  he  had  become,  or  was  rapidly  be- 
coming, one  of  the  best  sacred  classics  in  the  country.  The 
man  who  had  laid  aside  the  shepherd's  smock  for  the  clergy- 
man's surplice,  and  who  on  one  occasion  doffed  his  clerical  at- 
tire, donned  the  shepherd's  clothes  again,  and  sheared  eleven 
large  sheep  on  an  afternoon,  was  not  likely  to  neglect  or  over- 
look a  youth  of  more  than  ordinary  intelligence  and  application 
to  study  because  the  youth  happened  to  spend  his  days  at  the 
shoemaker's  stall.  Mr.  Scott  on  his  visiting  rounds  now  and 
then  turned  in  at  Mr.  Old's,  and  was  struck  with  the  boy's 
bright  look  and  rapt  attention  to  any  remarks  that  the  visitor 
might  make.  Occasionally  young  Carey  would  venture  to  ask 
a  question.  So  appropriate  and  far-seeing  were  his  inquiries 
that  Mr.  Scott  discerned  his  young  friend's  uncommon  powers, 
and  often  declared  that  he  would  prove  to  be  4*  no  ordinary 
character.'7  In  later  years,  when  William  Carey  was  known 
throughout  England  as  a  pioneer  in  mission  work,  as  a  great 
Oriental  linguist,  and  the  first  translator  of  the  New  Testament 
into  Bengali,  Mr.  Scott,  as  he  passed  by  the  old  room  where  the 
thoughtful  and  studious  young  shoemaker  had  once  sat  at  work, 
would  point  to  it  and  say,  "  That  was  Mr.  Carey's  college." 
But  with  all  this  mental  activity  and  zest  for  knowledge  there 


WILLIAM    CAREY.  135 

was  no  moral  purpose  in  his  life,  and  as  lie  grew  older  he  be- 
came more  and  more  loose  and  careless  in  his  habits,  and,  as 
he  himself  would  have  it,  even  vicious,  until  he  came  to  be 
about  eighteen  years  of  age.  But  there  is  no  proof  of  any  evil 
conduct  to  justify  the  use  of  such  a  term  as  u  vicious"  in  de- 
scribing his  life  at  this  time.  He  spoke  of  himself,  no  doubt, 
after  the  religious  fashion  of  the  age,  and  judged  his  early  con- 
duct by  the  severe  moral  standard  adopted  by  his  co-religion- 
i<ts.  His  complete  mental  awakening,  like  that  of  Samuel 
Drew,  seems  to  have  come  as  a  result  of  the  moral  change 
wrought  in  him  at  the  time  of'his  religious  conversion.  A  vari- 
ety of  causes,  as  is  the  rule,  led  to  this  crucial  event  in  his  life, 
"  that  vital  change  of  heart  which  laid  the  foundation  of  his 
Christian  character."  First  of  all  he  was  indebted  to  the  good 
example  of  a  fellow- workman,  then  to  the  earnest  preaching  of 
the  Rev.  Thomas  Scott.  Mr.  Marshman  says,  ki  It  was  chiefly 
to  the  ministrations  of  Mr.  Scott  that  Carey  was  indebted  for 
the  progress  he  made  in  his  religious  career,  and  he  never 
omitted  through  life  to  acknowledge  the  deep  obligation  under 
which  he  had  been  laid  by  his  instructions."  Brought  up  as  a 
strict  Churchman,  he  was  confirmed  at  a  suitable  age,  and  reg- 
ularly attended  the  services  at  the  parish  church.  But  at  the 
time  we  are  speaking  of,  when  personal  religion  became  the 
chief  subject  of  his  thoughts,  he  sought  light  and  help  by  every 
available  means.  The  little  Baptist  community,  among  whom 
he  had  many  friends,  showed  him  much  sympathy  :  he  began 
to  attend  their  meetings  for  prayer,  and  eventually  cast  in  his 
lot  among  them.  They  encouraged  him  to  become  a  preacher, 
and  his  first  sermon,  delivered  at  Hackleton  when  he  was  nine- 
teen years  of  age,  was  delivered  in  one  of  their  assemblies. 
For  three  and  a  half  years  he  was  on  the  preachers'  plan,  and 
regularly  li  supplied  the  pulpits"  in  this  village  and  Earl's  Bar- 
ton as  a  kind  of  pastor.  "  It  was  during  these  ministerial  en- 
gagements," says  his  biographer,  "  that  his  views  on  the  sub- 
ject of  baptism  were  altered,  and  he  embraced  the  opinion  that 
baptism  by  immersion,  after  a  confession  of  faith,  was  in  ac- 
cordance with  the  injunctions  of  Divine  Writ  and  the  practice 
of  the  apostolic  age.  He  was  accordingly  baptized  by  Dr.  John 
Kyland,  his  future  associate  in  the  cause  of  missions,  who  subse- 
quently stated  at  a  public  meeting  that,  on  the  7th  of  October, 
1783,  he  baptized  a  poor  journeyman  shoemaker  in  the  river  Nene, 
a  little  beyond  Dr.  Doddridge's  chapel  in  Northampton."  * 

*  "  The  Story  of  Carey,  Marshman,  and  Ward,"  p.  4. 


j;36  ILLUSTRIOUS    SHOEMAKERS. 

During  these  years  he  was  diligently  prosecuting  his  studies, 
and  read  the  Scriptures  in  Hebrew,  Greek,  and  Latin.  Like 
many  another  poor  student,  he  was  fain  to  borrow  what  he 
could  not  buy  in  the  way  of  books,  and  "  laid  the  libraries  of 
all  the  friends  around  him  under  contribution."  Notwith- 
standing his  extraordinary  abilities  and  diligence,  he  does  not 
seem  to  have  displayed  any  marked  qualities  as  a  preacher.  It 
was  with  difficulty  he  got  through  his  trial  sermons  before  the 
church  of  which  he  was  now  a  member.  The  very  decided 
"  personal  influence"  of  the  pastor,  the  Rev.  John  Suttcliffe, 
was  required  to  enable  the  modest  young  shoemaker  to  obtain 
the  church's  sanction  to  his  receiving  "  a  call  to  the  ministry." 
The  church  to  which  he  ministered  at  Earl's  Barton  was  poor, 
and  scarcely  able  to  keep  its  pastor  in  clothing,  much  less  pro- 
vide for  his  entire  maintenance.  For  this  he  was  dependent  on 
his  trade,  and  as  the  times  were  now  very  bad  he  was  obliged 
to  travel  from  village  to  village  to  dispose  of  his  work  and  ob- 
tain fresh  orders.  Nothing  but  the  assistance  of  his  relatives 
saved  him  at  this  time  from  destitution. 

And  here  we  are  bound  to  pause  arid  notice  the  greatest  mis- 
take Carey  made  in  all  his  life.  We  refer  to  his  marriage  at 
the  age  of  twenty  to  the  sister  of  his  former  employer. 
44  This  imprudent  union,"  it  is  said,  44  proved  a  severe  clog  on 
his  exertions  for  more  than  twenty-five  }ears. "  The  match  was 
about  as  unfortunate  and  unsuitable  as  a  match  could  be.  Mrs, 
Carey  was  much  older  than  her  husband,  ill-educated  in  mind 
and  temper,  and  quite  incapable  of  sympathizing  with  her  hus- 
band's studies  and  projects.  How  he  came  to  contract  such  a 
miserable  union  passes  comprehension,  for  he  was  remarkably 
sensible  and  business-like  in  common  affairs.  But  there  are 
those  who  can  cultivate  another  man's  vineyard  while  they 
neglect  their  own,  wise  for  others  and  simple  for  themselves  ; 
and  in  regard  to  this  particular  business,  as  Fronde  the  histo- 
rian has  well  said,  some  men  are  apparently  "  destined  to  be  un- 
fortunate in  their  relations  with  women."  The  judicious 
Hooker  was  judicious  in  everything  else  but  the  choice  of  a 
wife,  for  he  married  a  jade  who  was  wont  to  give  him  the  baby 
to  nurse  and  stand  and  scold  him  into  Hhe  bargain,  as  he  sat 
writing  the  works  that  were  destined  to  make  his  name  illustri- 
ous for  all  time.  Moliere,  who  exposed  in  the  most  masterly 
manner  in  his  plays  the  follies  and  foibles  of  the  women  of 
Parisian  society  in  his  day,  married,  to  his  bitter  regret,  as 
weak  and  vain  a  woman  as  any  that  figures  in  his  own  works. 


WILLIAM    CAREY.  137 

Milton's  second  wife  went  home  again  within  three  months  of 
their  wedding-day  ;  and  John  Wesley's  wife  left  him  a  short 
while  after  their  marriage.  But  if  these  good  men  made  a  mis- 
take in  their  choice,  they  one  and  all  acted  with  good  sense  and 
feeling  in  their  treatment  of  their  ill-matched  partners.  Noth- 
ing could  be  better  than  the  common -sense  of  stern  John  Wes- 
ley in  his  reply  to  a  friend  who  asked  him  if  he  would  not  send 
for  his  truant  wife  home  again.  He  answered  in  Latin,  but 
this  is  what  his  words  mean,  "  I  did  not  send  her  away,  and  I 
will  not  fetch  her  back  again*"  Carey  acted  with  much  kind- 
ness and  discretion  toward  his  miserable  partner  ;  but  he 
found  it  harder  to  transform  her  into  a  sensible  woman  than 
to  transform  his  own  Baptist  Conference  into  a  missionary 
society.* 

In  1786,  he  took  the  pastorate  of  a  small  church  at  Moulton  ; 
yet,  even  here,  he  was  obliged  to  eke  out  his  poor  living  by 
shoemaking,  and  even  to  alld  to  his  other  labors  the  task  of 
teaching  a  school.  For  this  task  he  was  utterly  unfit.  How- 
ever well  he  might  teach  himself,  he  could  never  teach  boys. 
He  knew  this,  and  was  accustomed  to  say,  "  When  I  kept 
school,  it  was  the  boys  who  kept  me."  His  circumstances  at 
this  time  ought  to  be  fully  stated  in  order  that  the  reader  may 
form  borne  idea  of  the  hardship  Carey  had  to  endure  and  the 
absorbing  personal  duties  and  cares  in  the  midst  of  which  he 
began  to  cherish  his  great  purpose  "  to  convey  the  gospel  of 
Jesus  Christ  to  some  portion  of  the  heathen  world."  His  min- 
isterial stipend  from  all  sources  and  the  proceeds  of  his  school 
would  not  together  put  him  in  the  position  of  Goldsmith's  ideal 
village  pastor,  who  was  l  i  passing  rich  on  forty  pounds  a  year. ' ' 
So  that  he  was  obliged,  even  at  Moulton,  to  have  recourse  to 
shoemaking.  A  friend  of  his  at  the  time  remarks,  "  Once  a 
fortnight  Carey  might  be  seen  walking  eight  or  ten  miles  to 
Northampton,  with  his  wallet  full  of  shoes  on  his  shoulder,  and 
then  returning  home  with  a  fresh  supply  of  leather.'' 

The  time  spent  at  Moulton  was,  in  spite  of  its  many  cares 
and  hardships,  a  time  of  great  progress  in  study.  It  was  dur- 
ing these  years  he  adopted  the  plan  of  allotting  his  time,  a 
plan  to  which  he  rigidly  adhered  all  through  his  life,  and  by 

*  It  ought  to  be  said  that  in  1808,  about  a  year  after  the  death  of 
his  first  wife,  Carey  married  Miss  Bhumohr,  a  Danish  lady  of  good 
family  and  education,  who  proved  a  most  congenial  companion  and 
helper  in  his  work.  He  was  three  times  married  :  his  third  wife,  who 
survived  him,  was  an  excellent  partner  for  a  missionary. 


138  ILLUSTRIOUS    SHOEMAKERS. 

means  of  which  he  was  able  in  after-years  to  accomplish  tasks 
which  seemed  to  onlookers  sufficient  for  the  energies  of  two  or 
three  ordinary  men.  Now  began  also  the  acquaintance  with 
men  whose  friendship  was  of  the  greatest  service  to  a  man  like 
Carey,  and  largely  influenced  and  helped  him  in  his  life-work — 
Mr.  Hall  (the  father  of  the  eminent  pulpit  orator  Robert  Hall), 
Dr.  Ryland,  John  Suttcliffe,  and  Andrew  Fuller.  All  these 
lived  within  a  few  miles  of  each  other,  and  belonged  to  the  same 
association  of  Baptist  churches,  called  the  Northamptonshire  As- 
sociation. It  was  at  one  of  the  meetings  of  this  association 
that  Fuller  first  met  with  Carey  and  heard  him  preach.  So  de- 
lighted was  Fuller  with  the  devout  thoughtfulness  and  Christian 
catholicity  of  Carey's  discourse,  that  he  met  the  preacher  as  he 
came  down  from  the  pulpit  and  thanked  him  in  the  warmest 
manner.  In  this  cordial  meeting  commenced  a  friendship  and 
fellowship  in  Christian  work  which  lasted  for  twenty  years 
until  Fuller's  death,  and  which  proved  a  source  of  untold  bless- 
ings to  the  heathen  world. 

Carey's  first  thought  of  missions  came  into  his  mind  when 
reading  Captain  Cook's  account  of  his  voyage  round  the  world. 
He  was  in  the  habit  of  blending  study  with  his  task  as  a  shoe- 
maker, or  while  sitting  among  his  boys  at  school.  This  book 
impressed  his  imagination,  and  stirred  his  compassion  to  the 
utmost,  as  he  contemplated  the  vast  extent  of  the  world  and 
the  large  proportion  of  its  inhabitants  who  were  living  in  ignor- 
ance of  the  true  God,  and  of  the  Saviour  of  mankind.  In  or- 
der to  realize  the  facts  more  vividly,  he  constructed  a  large  map 
of  the  world,  and  marked  it  in  such  a  manner  as  to  indicate 
the  numerical  relation  of  the  heathen  to  the  Christian  nations. 
This  map  was  fixed  on  the  wall  in  front  of  his  work-stool,  so 
that  he  might  raise  his  head  occasionally  and  look  upon  it  as 
he  sat  at  his  daily  toil.  While  he  mused  on  the  map  and  the 
facts  it  represented,  "  the  fire  burned."  It  was  the  means  of 
inspiring  in  him  the  purpose  never  to  tire  nor  rest  until  he  and 
others  had  gone  out  to  convey  the  good  news  of  the  Gospel  to 
his  suffering  fellow-men  in  distant  lands.  It  was  to  this  cir- 
cumstance that  William  Wilberforce  alluded,  in  a  speech  made 
in  the  House  of  Commons  twenty  years  after,  when,  urging 
Parliament  to  grant  missionaries  free  access  to  India,  he  said  : 
"  A  sublimer  thought  cannot  be  conceived  than  when  a  poor 
cobbler  formed  the  resolution  to  give  to  the  millions  of  Hin- 
doos the  Bible  in  their  own  language." 

With  this  purpose  in  mind,  Carey  went  to  the  meetings  of 


WILLIAM   CAREY.  139 

his  brethren,  longing  for  an  opportunity  of  expressing  his 
thoughts  and  calling  forth  their  sympathies.  But  he  had  to 
endure  a  terrible  trial  at  the  outset — a  trial  which  only  Chris- 
tian faith  and  love  could  endure.  The  older  men,  who  ruled  in 
an  almost  supreme  manner  in  these  councils,  sternly  rebuked 
his  presumption,  as  they  deemed  it,  and  called  him  an  "  enthu- 
siast " — a  term  employed  very  recently  by  a  noble  duke  in  the 
House  of  Lords  in  the  same  connection.  No  term  could  have 
described  Carey  more  correctly.  It  was  a  term  of  honor, 
though  meant  in  reproach  and  condemnation.  The  word 
means  one  inspjred  by  God,  and  surely  Carey's  Christlike 
thought  and  zeal  for  his  fellow-men  was  an  inspiration.  He 
was  an  enthusiast  of  the  type  of  Robert  Raikes  of  Gloucester, 
who  only  six  or  seven  years  before  *  had  begun  the  work  of 
Sabbath-schools  in  that  city  ;  or  John  Howard,  whose  great 
work,  published  within  a  year  orjtwo  of  this  time,}  on  the  con- 
dition of  the  prisons  in  Europe,  and  especially  in  England  and 
Ireland,  created  a  merciful  revolution  in  the  treatment  of  our 
criminal  class  ;  or  Thomas  Charles  of  Bala,  whose  pity  for  the 
Welsh  girl  who  had  no  Bible  of  her  own,  and  had  been  unable 
to  walk  six  or  seven  miles  to  a  place  where  she  could  have  ac- 
cess to  one,  led  him  to  take  steps  which  resulted  in  the  forma- 
tion of  the  British  and  Foreign  Bible  Society.  The  founder  of 
the  Baptist  Missionary  Society  was  a  man  of  this  type,  and  such 
men  are  the  greatest  benefactors  of  their  race,  no  matter  whether 
they  be  clergymen  like  Charles,  or  country  gentlemen  like  How- 
ard, or  cobblers  and  Nonconformist  village  pastors  like  Carey. 

At  the  first  meeting  in  which  Carey  ventured  to  submit  the 
subject  of  Christian  missions,  the  senior  minister  present  spoke 
in  the  following  oracular  manner  :  "  Brother  Carey  ought  cer- 
tainly to  have  known  that  nothing  could  be  done  before 
another  Pentecost,  when  an  effusion  of  miraculous  gifts,  in- 
cluding the  gift  of  tongues,  would  give  effect  to  the  commis- 
sion of  Christ,  as  at  the  first  ;  and  that  he  (Mr.  Carey)  was  a 
miserable  enthusiast  for  asking  such  a  question."  And  then, 
as  if  to  settle  the  whole  question  once  for  all,  and  shut  the 
mouth  of  Mr.  Carey  forever,  the  stern  old  man  turned  to  the 
humble  young  pastor  and  said,  "  What,  sir  !  can  you  preach 
in  Arabic,  in  Persic,  in  Hmdostani,  in  Bengali,  that  you  think 
it  your  duty  to  preach  the  gospel  to  the  heathen  ?"  Little  did 
the  speaker  imagine  that  he  was  addressing  the  very  man  who 

*  The  first  Sunday-school  was  opened  in  Gloucester  in  1780. 
f  Viz.,  1789. 


140  ILLL'STKiOl'S    SHOKMAKKKS. 

would  subsequently  hold  the  office  of  Professor  of  Oriental  Lan- 
guages at  Fort  William  for  twenty  years,  become  one  of  the 
greatest  proficients  the  world  has  known  in  two  of  the  very  lan- 
guages he  had  named,  and  not  only  preach  in  them  but  trans- 
late the  Scriptures  into  them,  as  a  boon  and  legacy  of  love  to 
the  people  of  Hindostan.  When  on  another  occasion  Carey, 
nothing  daunted  by  his  first  repulse,  and  willing  to  forgive  and 
forget  his  rebuff  for  the  sake  of  the  cause  he  cherished,  asked 
his  brethren  once  more  to  consider  the  question  of  missions,  the 
same  stern  voice  exclaimed,  *'  Young  man,  sit  down  ;  when 
God  pleases  to  convert  the  heathen,  He  will  do  it  without  your 
aid  or  mine." 

But  the  old  man  was  not  a  prophet.  God  did  not  choose  to 
work  without  the  aid  of  William  Carey,  though  the  time  was 
not  yet.  The  undaunted  moral  hero  had  other  battles  to  fight 
before  he  stood  on  the  field  of  missions. 

In-  1789  Carey  became  the  pastor  of  a  church  in  Leicester. 
For  four  years  he  labored  zealously  at  his  ministerial  duties, 
studied  with  great  diligence,  availing  himself  of  new  and  valua- 
ble friendships  for  this  purpose,  and  never  failing  to  bring  up 
his  favorite  theme  for  discussion  at  the  meetings  of  the  Baptist 
ministers.  Before  he  left  Moulton,  as  we  have  seen,  he  began 
to  raise  the  question  in  the  public  assemblies.  On  one  occasion 
the  debate  ran  on  the  question  he  had  introduced,  "  Whether  it 
were  not  practicable,  and  our  bounden  duty,  to  attempt  some- 
what toward  spreading  the  gospel  in  the  heathen  world  ?" 
Not  satisfied  with  the  result  of  such  discussions,  the  village 
shoemaker  and  pastor  sat  down  to  write  ^a  pamphlet  on  this  sub- 
ject, entitled  "  Thoughts  on  Christian  Missions."  When  he 
showed  this  pamphlet  to  his  friends  Fuller,  Suttcljffe,  and  Ry- 
land,  they  were  amazed  at  the  amount  of  knowledge  it  dis- 
played, and  deeply  moved  by  Carey's  zeal  and  persistence  in 
the  good  cause  ;  but  all  they  could  do  in  the  matter  was  to  put 
him  off  for  a  time  by  counselling  him  to  revise  his  production. 
It  appears  that  at  the  time  this  brochure  was  penned  the  poor 
shoemaker  with  his  family  were  "  in  a  state  bordering  on  star- 
vation, and  passed  many  weeks  without  animal  food,  and  with 
but  a  scanty  supply  of  bread." 

In  the  year  1791,  at  a  meeting  held  at  Clipstone  in  North- 
amptonshire, Carey  again  read  his  pamphlet,  and  was  requested 
to  publish  it.  This  was  a  decided  step  in  advance,  and  pre- 
pared the  way  for  the  events  of  the  following  year,  when  the 
desire  of  his-  heart  was  accomplished  in  the  formation  of  a  mis- 


\TILLt Ati    'CAREY.  141 

sionary  society.  In  May,  1*792,  he  preached  the  famous  sermon 
which  is  said  to  have  done  more  than  anything  else  to  consum- 
mate this  missionary  enterprise.*  The  two  main  propositions 
•of  this  discourse  have  passed  into  something  like  a  proverb  on 
the  lips  of  missionary  advocates  :  "  Expect  great  things  from 
God  ;  attempt  great  things  for  God. ' '  Although  the  discourse 
made  a  deep  impression,  Carey  was  distressed  beyond  all  self- 
control  when  he  found  his  friends  were  about  to  separate  with- 
out a  distinct  resolution  to  form  a  society.  He  seized  Andrew 
Fuller's  hand  "  in  an  agony  of  distress,'7  and  tearfully  pleaded 
that  some  steps  should  at  once'  be  taken.  Overcome  at  last  by 
his  entreaties,  they  solemnly  resolved  on  the  holy  enterprise. 

After  this  the  history  of  the  Society  is  a  record  of  meetings, 
committees,  travels,  and  labors,  of  deputations  to  the  churches, 
difficulties  and  embarrassments,  in  the  midst  of  which  no  one 
was  more  devoted  and  useful  in  ^bringing  the  plans  of  the 
young  Society  into  working  order  than  Carey's  valuable  friend, 
Andrew  Fuller.  The  first  subscription  list  was  made  up  at 
another  meeting  of  the  Association,  held  at  Kettering,  in  Carey's 
own  county,  in  the  autumn  of  the  same  year.  Its  promises 
amounted  to  £13  2s.  6d.  This  little  fund  was  the  precursor 
of  the  tens  of  thousands  which  have  since  flowed  into  the  treas- 
uries of  our  modern  Christian  Missionary  Societies.  In  twenty- 
nine  days  after  the  fund  was  started  at  Kettering,  Birmingham 
followed  with  the  noble  gift  of  £70. 

The  Society  was  now  fairly  started,  with  the  resolution  for- 
mally recorded  on  its  minute-books  "  to  convey  the  message  of 
salvation  to  some  portion  of  the  heathen  world."  On  the  9th 
of  January,  1793,  Carey  and  a  colleague  were  appointed  by  the 
Committee  to  proceed  at  once  to  India.  Carey's  colleague  was 
a  man  of  extraordinary  missionary  zeal,  who  had  **  lately  re- 
turned from  Bengal,  and  was  endeavoring  to  establish  a  fund  in 
London  for  a  mission  to  that  country."  f  He  was  a  Baptist, 

*  The  text  of  this  discourse  was  Isaiah  54  : 2,  3  :  "  Enlarge  the  place 
of  thy  tent,  and  let  them  stretch  forth  the  curtains  of  thine  habitations: 
spare  not,  lengthen  thy  cords  and  strengthen  thy  stakes  ;  for  thou  shalt 
break  forth  on  the  right  hand  and  on  the  lef fc  ;  and  thy  seed  shrill  in- 
herit the  Gentiles,  and  make  the  desolate  cities  to  be  inhabited." 

f  Quarterly  Review,  Feb.  1809,  p.  197.  This  generous  article  on 
"The  Periodical  Accounts  of  the  Baptist  Missionary  Society"  is 
known  to  have  been  written  by  Southey.  See  below.  Some  idea  of 
Thomas's  passionate  zeal  may  be  formed  from  certain  expressions  in 
the  letters  sent  home  after  Carey  ai}d  he  had  arrived  in  India.  He  says, 
"  Never  did  men  see  their  native  land  with  more  joy  than  we  left  it;  but 
this  is  not  of  nature,  but  from  above,"  etc.  See  p.  223  of  same  article. 


142  ILLUSTKIWS    SHOEMAKERS. 

and  on  hearing  of  the  schemes  of  his  brethren  in  England,  he 
readily  fell  in  with  their  proposal  that  he  should  accompany 
Carey  to  India.  But  the  question  of  finding  a  berth  on  an 
English  vessel  was  not  easily  settled.  No  English  captain  dare 
take  them  out  without  a  government  license,  and  to  obtain  a 
license  as  missionaries  was  not  to  be  thought  of.  Having  at 
one  time  gone  on  board  a  vessel  with  all  their  baggage,  they 
were  obliged  by  the  captain,  who  felt  that  he  was  risking  his 
commission  in  taking  them  on  board,  to  land  again  and  return 
to  London.  They  were  compelled  at  length  to  have  recourse 
to  a  Danish  vessel,  the  Cron  Princessa  Maria,  whose  captain, 
an  Englishman  by  birth,  though  naturalized  as  a  Dane,  looked 
favorably  on  their  enterprise.  On  the  13th  of  June,  1793, 
Carey  and  his  companion  set  sail  from  the  shores  of  England, 
their  expedition  as  ambassadors  for  Christ  as  little  heeded  by 
the  world  at  large  as  that  of  the  Cilician  tentmaker  and  his  lit- 
tle band  of  preachers  who  set  sail  seventeen  centuries  before 
from  the  port  of  Alexandria  Troas  for  the  shores  of  Europe. 

The  story  of  Carey's  life  and  work  in  India  cannot  be  fol- 
lowed in  detail.  We  have  come  to  the  close  of  that  portion  of 
his  history  which  properly  belongs  to  these  brief  sketches  of 
illustrious  shoemakers.  A  few  sentences  must  suffice  to  give  a 
picture  of  his  labors  as  a  missionary  and  the  result  of  those 
labors.  For  six  or  seven  years  Carey  and  hisfiiepds  had  to  en- 
dure much  hardship,  and  their  proceedings  weie  hampered  by 
difficulties  of  various  kinds.  To  begin  with,  they  had  no  legal 
standing  in  the  country,  and  were  forced  at  length  to  take  up 
their  quarters  under  the  Danish  flag  at  Serampore.  t4  Heie 
they  bought  a  house,  and  organized  themselves  into  a  family 
society,  resolving  that  whatever  was  done  by  any  member 
should  be  for  the  benefit  of  the  mission.  They  opened  a 
school,  in  which  the  children  of  those  natives  who  chose  to  send 
them  were  instructed  gratuitously/'*  The  funds  supplied 
from  home  were  but  scanty,  and  they  were  compelled  to  resort 
to  trade  for  their  livelihood  and  the  means  of  carrying  on  their 
work.  "  Thomas,  who  was  a  surgeon,  intended  to  support 
himself  by  his  profession.  Carey's  plan  was  to  take  land  and 
cultivate  it  for  his  maintenance."!  At  one  time,  when  funds 
were  exhausted,  Mr.  Carey  "  was  indebted  for  an  asylum  to  an 
opulent  native  ;"  at  another  time,  driven  to  distraction  by 
want  of  money,  by  the  apparent  failure  of  his  plans,  and  the 

*  Quarterly  Review,  Feb.  1809,  p.  197.  f  Ibid. 


WILLIAM   CAKKY,  143 

upbraidings  of  his  unsympathetic  partner,  he  removed  with  his 
family  to  the  Soonderbunds,  and  took  a  small  grant  of  land, 
which  he  proposed  to  cultivate  for  his  own  maintenance  ;  and, 
later  on,  he  thankfdly  accepted,  as  a  way  out  of  his  difficulties 
and  a  means  of  furthering  his  missionary  projects,  the  post  of 
superintendent  of  an  indigo  factory  at  Mudnabatty.  This  post 
he  held  for  five  or  six  years.  No  sooner  had  he  got  into  this 
position  of  comparative  independence  than  he  wrote  home  and 
proposed  that  <;  the  sum  which  might  be  considered  his  salary 
should  be  devoted  to  the  printing  of  the  Bengali  translation  of 
the  New  Testament. "  This  generous  proposal  is  a  fair  illus- 
tration of  his  self -sacrificing  spirit  from  the  beginning  to  the 
end  of  his  missionary  life.  To  the  work  of  translating  and  cir- 
culating the  Scriptures  in  the  languages  of  India  he  devoted  not 
only  all  his  time  and  his  vast  mental  powers,  but  whatever  pri- 
vate funds  might  be  at  his  command.  As  the  work  proceeded, 
and  he  became  known  and  employed  by  the  government  in  va- 
rious professorships,  these  funds  were  often  very  considerable. 
In  1807,  when  Carey  held  the  Professorship  of  Oriental  Lan- 
guages at  the  Fort  William  College,  at  a  salary  of  £1200  a 
year,  Mr.  Ward,  one  of  his  colleagues,  wrote,  in  reply  to  some 
unfriendly  remarks  made  in  an  English  publication,  that  Dr. 
Carey  and  Mr.  Marshman  4'  were  contributing  £2400  a  year," 
and  receiving  from  the  mission  fund  "  only  their  food  and  a 
trifle  of  pocket-money  for  apparel." 

In  1800  the  missionary  establishment,  now  strengthened  by 
the  two  worthy  colleagues  just  named,  was  removed  to  Seram- 
pore,  a  Danish  settlement  about  fifteen  miles  from  Calcutta.  A 
printing  press  aud  type  were  purchased,  and  the  work  of  print- 
ing the  Scriptures  commenced.  Carey  had  been  quietly  but 
most  diligently  going  on  with  the  translation  of  the  Scriptures 
into  Bengali  during  the  previous  years  of  anxiety  and  varied 
missionary  labor.  Whatever  cares  weighed  on  brain  and  heart, 
the  true  work  of  his  life,  to  which  he  had  devoted  himself,  was 
never  relinquished. 

On  the  18th  of  March,  1800,  the  first  sheets  of  the  Bengali 
New  Testament  were  struck  off,  and  on  the  7th  of  February  in 
the  following  year,  "  Mr.  Carey  enjoyed  the  supreme  gratifica- 
tion of  receiving  the  last  sheet  of  the  Bengali  New  Testament 
from  the  press,  the  fruition  of  the  '  sublime  thought  '  which 
he  had  conceived  fifteen  years  before."  It  is  not  surprising 
that  we  should  read  the  following  record  of  the  manner  in 
which  these  humble  missionaries  expressed  their  devout  grati- 


144  ILLUSTRIOUS   SHOEMAKERS. 

tude  to  God  on  the  consummation  of  this  part  of  their  Christian 
labors  :  "  As  soon  as  the  first  copy  was  bound,  it  was  placed 
on  the  communion  table  in  the  chapel,  and  a  meeting  was  held 
of  the  whole  of  the  mission  family,  and  of  the  converts  recently 
baptized,  to  offer  a  tribute  of  gratitude  to  God  for  this  great 
blessing."  In  1806  the  New  Testament  was  ready  for  the 
press  in  Sanskrit,  the  sacred  language  of  India,  the  language  of 
its  most  ancient  and  venerated  writings,  and  the  parent  of  near- 
ly all  the  languages  of  modern  India.  Simultaneously  with 
this  were  being  issued  proof-sheets  of  the  New  Testament  in 
Mahratta,  Orissa,  Persian,  and  Hindostani,  besides  dictionaries 
and  grammars,  and  other  publications  for  the  use  of  students. 
It  is  well-nigh  impossible  to  form  a  correct  idea  of  the  amount 
of  religious  zeal,  mental  energy,  and  physical  endurance  in- 
volved in  labors  like  those  of  Dr.  Carey,  extending  over  forty 
years  in  the  climate  of  Bengal.  He  is  said  to  have  regularly 
tired  out  three  pundits,  or  native  interpreters,  who  came  one 
after  the  other  each  day  to  assist  him  in  the  correction  and  re- 
vision of  his  translations.  A  letter  written  in  1807,  when  the 
degree  of  D.D.  was  conferred  on  Mr.  Carey  by  the  Brown  Uni- 
versity, United  States,  gives  a  graphic  sketch  of  the  ordinary 
day's  work  performed  by  him  at  this  period  :  "  He  rises  a  Jit- 
tie  before  six,  reads  a  chapter  in  the  Hebrew  Bible,  and  spends 
the  time  till  seven  in  private  devotion.  He  then  has  family 
prayer  with  the  servants  in  Bengali,  after  which  he  reads  Per- 
sian with  a  moonshee  who  is  in  attendance.  As  soon  as  break- 
fast is  over  he  sits  down  to  the  translation  of  the  Ramayun 
with  his  pundit  till  ten,  when  he  proceeds  to  the  college  and 
attends  to  its  duties  till  two.  Returning  home,  he  examines  a 
proof-sheet  of  the  Bengali  translation,  and  dines  with  his  friend 
Mr.  Rolt.  After  dinner  he  translates  a  chapter  of  the  Bible 
with  the  aid  of  the  chief  pundit  of  the  college.  At  six  he  sits 
down  with  the  Telugu  pundit  to  the  study  of  that  language,  and 
then  preaches  a  sermon  in  English  to  a  congregation  of  about 
fifty.  The  service  ended,  he  sits  down  to  the  translation  of 
Ezekiel  into  Bengali,  having  thrown  aside  his  former  version. 
At  eleven  the  duties  of  the  day  are  closed,  and  after  reading  a 
chapter  in  the  Greek  Testament  and  commending  himself  to 
God  he  retires  to  rest. ' 7  * 

Strangely  enough,  about  this  time  a  controversy  was  going  on 

*"  Carey,  Maishman,  and  Ward,"  by  J.  C.  Marshman.     London  ; 
J.  Heaton  &  Son.     1864. 


WILLIAM    CAREY.  145 

in  certain  English  journals  as  to  the  value  of  the  work  that 
Carey  and  his  coadjutors  were  doing  in  India.  We  have  no 
wish  to  speak  bitterly  of  the  satire  and  severity  of  the  articles 
written  by  Sydney  Smith  in  the  Edinburgh  Review.  They 
"were  not  simply  sallies  of  wit,  but  serious  essays,  written  in 
a  spirit  of  deliberate  hostility  to  this  missionary  enterprise. 
What  else  can  be  thought  of  an  article  commencing  with  words 
like  these  :  "  In  rooting  out  a  nest  of  consecrated  cobblers,  and 
in  bringing  to  light  such  a  perilous  heap  of  trash  as  we  are 
obliged  to  work  through  in  our  articles  on  Methodists  and  mis- 
sionaries, we  are  generally  considered  to  have  rendered  a  useful 
service  to  the  cause  of  rational  religion."  Such  articles  con^. 
demncd  themselves  ;  and  it  is  fair  to  add  that  their  author 
himself  lived  to  regard  them  as  a  mistake,  and  to  express 
to  Lord  Macaulay  his  regret  that  he  had  ever  written 
them.* 

But  even  in  that  day  Carey  and  his  heroic  band  of  Christian 
fellow-laborers  had  plenty  of  sympathizers  and  supporters  both 
in  the  Church  of  England  and  the  Nonconformist  denomina- 
tions. Robert  South ey  the  poet  came  forward  with  generous 
enthusiasm  in  their  defence,  and  in  a  carefully-written  article  in 
the  Quarterly^  Review  \  vindicated  their  character  and  labors. 
Among  oth  ir  remarkable  statements  in  their  behalf,  he  was  able 
to  say  :  4'  These  'low-born  and  low-bred  mechanics'  have 
translated  the  whole  Bible  into  Bengali,  and  have  by  this  time 
printed  it.  They  are  printing  the  New  Testament  in  the  San- 
skrit, the  Orissa,  the  Mahratta,  the  Hindostani,  the  Guzerat, 
and  translating  it  into  Persic,  Teligna,  Carnata,  Chinese,  the 
language  of  the  Sieks  and  the  Burmans,  and  in  four  of  these 
languages  they  are  going  on  with  the  Bible.  Extraordinary  as 
this  is,  it  will  appear  still  more  so  when  it  is  remembered  that 
of  these  men  one  was  originally  a  shoemaker,  another  a  printer 
at  Hull,  and  the  third  the  master  of  a  charity-school  at  Bristol. 
Only  fourteen  years  have  elapsed  since  Thomas  and  Carey  set 
foot  in  India,  and  in  that  tune  these  missionaiies  have  acquired 
the  gift  of  tongues.  In  fourteen  years  these  4  low-born,  low- 
bred mechanics  '  have  done  more  to  spread  the  knowledge  of 
the  Scriptures  among  the  heathen  than  has  been  accomplished 
or  even  attempted  by  all  the  world  beside.  A  plain  statement 
of  fact  will  be  the  best  proof  of  their  diligence  and  success. 

*"'  Carey,  Marshman,  and  Ward,"  p.   137. 
f  Quarterly  Review,  Feb.  1809,  pp.  221,  225. 


146  ILLUSTRIOUS   SHOEMAKERS. 

The  first  convert  was  baptized  in  December,  1800,*  and  in  seven 
years  after  that  time  the  number  has  amounted  to  109,  of 
whom  nine  were  afterward  excluded  or  suspended,  or  had  been 
lost  sight  of.  Carey  and  his  son  have  been  in  Bengal  fourteen 
years,  the  other  brethren  only  nine.  They  had  all  a  difficult 
language  to  acquire  before  they  could  speak  to  a  native,  and  to 
preach  and  argue  in  it  required  a  thorough  and  familiar  knowl- 
edge. Under  these  circumstances  the  wonder  is,  not  that  they 
have  done  so  little,  but  that  they  have  done  so  much  ;  for  it 
will  be  found  that,  even  without  this  difficulty  to  retard  them, 
no  religious  opinions  have  spread  more  rapidly  in  the  same 
time,  unless  there  was  some  remarkable  folly  or  extravagance 
to  recommend  them,  or  some  powerful  worldly  inducement. " 
This  liberal  Tory  an  evangelical  High  Churchman  goes  on  to 
say  :  "  Other  missionaries  from  other  societies  have  now  en- 
tered India,  and  will  soon  become  efficient  laborers  in  their 
station.  From  Government  all  that  is  asked  is  toleration  for 
themselves  and  protection  for  their  converts.  The  plan  which 
they  have  laid  for  their  own  proceedings  is  perfectly  piudent 
and  unexceptionable,  and  there  is  as  little  fear  of  their  provok- 
ing martyrdom  as  there  would  be  of  their  shrinking  from  it  if 
the  cause  of  God  and  man  require  the  sacrifice." 

Having  lived  to  see  his  desire  accomplished  in  the  establish- 
ment of  many  other  missionary  societies  besides  his  own  ;  hav- 
ing been  the  means  of  translating  the  Sacred  Scriptures  in  the 
languages  spoken  probably  by  two  hundred  millions  of  people  ; 
this  good  man,  working  up  to  the  close  of  his  life,  died  at  Cal- 
cutta on  the  9th  of  June,  1834.  As  he  lay  ill,  Lady  Bentinck, 
the  wife  of  the  Governor-General,  paid  him  frequent  visits,  and 
good  "  Bishop  Wilson  came  and  besought  his  blessing. M  He 
instructed  his  executors  to  place  no  memorial  over  his  tomb  but 
the  following  simple  inscription  : 

WILLIAM  CAREY, 

BOEN  AUGUST  1761  ;  DIED  JUNE  1834. 

'*  A  wretched,  poor,  and  helpless  worm, 

On  Thy  kind  arms  I  fall." 

Mr.  Marshman,  who  had  the   best  means  of  knowing  Carey 

*  Viz.,  Krishnu,  who  was  baptized  at  the  same  time  as  Carey's  son 
Felix.  The  ceremony  was  performed  at  the  Ghaut,  or  landing-stairs 
of  the  Mahanuddy,  in  the  presence  of  the  Governor  and  a  crowd  of 
Hindoos  and  Mohammedans. 


WILLIAM    (JAREY.  147 

and  his  work,*  says  :  *'  The  basis  of  all  his  excellences  was  deep 
and  unaffected  piety.  So  great  was  his  love  of  integrity  that 
he  never  gave  his  confidence  where  he  was  not  certain  of  the 
existence  of  moral  worth.  He  was  conspicuous  for  constancy, 
both  in  the  pursuits  of  life  and  the  associations  of  friendship. 
With  great  simplicity  he  united  the  strongest  decision  of  char- 
acter. He  never  took  credit  for  anything  but  plodding,  but  it 
was  the  plodding  of  genius/'  In  all  his  work,  however  suc- 
cessful, however  honored  by  his  fellow-men,  William  Carey  was 
modest  and  simple-hearted  as  a  child.  His  unparalleled  labors 
as  a  translator  of  the  Scriptures  were  performed  under  the 
prompting  of  sublime  faith  in  Divine  truth,  warm  unwavering 
love  to  souls,  and  an  assured  confidence  in  the  ultimate  triumph 
of  the  kingdom  of  God.  The  shoemaker  of  Northamptonshiie 
will  be  remembered  till  the  end  of  the  wofld  as  the  Christian 
Apostle  of  Northern  India. 

*John  Clark  Marshman  was  the  son  of  Dr.  Marshinan,  Carey's 
colleague  at  Serarapore. 


THE    PHILANTHROPIC    SHOEMAKER. 


"  His  virtues  walked  their  narrow  round, 
Nor  made  a  pause,  nor  left  a  void ; 
And  sure  the  Eternal  Master  found 
His  single  talent  well  employed." 

— Dr.  Samuel  Johnson. 


"  A  young  lady  once  said  to  him,  '  0  Mr.  Pounds,  I  wish  you  were  rich, 
you  would  do  so  much  good ! '  The  old  man  paused  a  few  seconds  and 
then  replied,  '  Well,  I  don't  know ;  if  I  had  been  rich  I  might,  perhaps, 
have  been  much  the  same  as  other  rich  people.  This  I  know,  there  is  not 
now  a  happier  man  in  England  than  John  Pounds ;  and  I  think  'tis  best  as 
it  is.'" — Memoir  of  John  Pounds,  p.  12. 

"  As  unknown,  and  yet  well  known ;  ...  as  poor,  yet  making  many 
rich."—  The  Apostle  Paul.  2  Cor.  vi.  9,  10. 

"  Verily  I  say  unto  you,  Inasmuch  as  ye  have  done  it  unto  one  of  the 
least  of  these  My  brethren,  ye  have  done  it  unto  Me." — Our  Lord  Jesus 
Christ.  Matt.  xxv.  40. 


JOHN   POUNDS. 

IN  1837  there  lived  at  Landport  and  Portsmouth  two  nota- 
ble shoemakers.  The  Landport  man  combined  with  his  daily 
task  as  a  shoemaker  the  delightful  occupation  of  sketching  and 
patinting,  and  obtained  a  local  fame  as  an  artist.  The  Ports- 
mouth ma-i  found  in  the  work  of  teaching  poor  ragged  chil- 
dren to  read  and  write  and  cipher  his  great^t  relaxation  from 
the  drudgery  of  daily  toil  and  his  purest  enjoyment,  and  lias 
become  known,  we  may  safely  affirm,  throughout  the  Christian 
world,  as  a  philanthropist,  and  one  of  the  first  men  in  this 
country  who  conceived  and  carried  out  the  idea,  of  Ragged 
Schools.  The  shoemaker-artist  had  a  great  admiration  for  the 
shoemaker-philanthropist  and  painted  a  picture  representing 
him  in  his  humble  workroom,  engaged  in  his  double  occupation 
as  shoemaker  and  schoolmaster,  with  a  last  between  his  knees 
and  a  number  of  children  standing  before  him  receiving  instruc- 
tion. The  artist's  name  was  Sheaf,  and  his  interesting  picture 
represented  John  Pounds  occupied  in  his  benevolent  work  as  a 
gratuitous  teacher  of  the  neglected  children  of  his  native  town. 
Sheaf  sold  his  picture  to  Edward  Carter,  Esq.,  of  Portsmouth, 
a  warm  admirer  of  John  Pounds,  and  one  of  his  best  friends 
and  helpers  in  his  work.  This  picture  was  afterward  engraved 
by  Mr.  Charpenticr  of  Portsmouth,  and  it  is  to  a  copy  of  the 
engraving  the  renowned  Dr.  Guthrie  of  Edinburgh  refers  in  the 
following  story  : 

4 '  It  is  rather  curious,  at  least  it  is  interesting  to  me,  that  it 
was  by  a  picture  that  I  was  first  led  to  take  an  interest  in  Rag- 
ged Schools — a  picture  in  an  old,  obscure,  decayed  burgh,  that 
stands  on  the  shore  of  the  Firth  of  Forth.  I  had  gone  thither 
with  a  companion  on  a  pilgrimage  ;  not  that  there  was  any 
beauty  about  the  place,  for  it  had  no  beauty.  It  has  little 
trade.  Its  deserted  harbor,  silent  streets,  and  old  houses, 
some  of  them  nodding  to  their  fall,  give  indications  of  decay. 
But  one  circumstance  has  redeemed  it  from  obscurity,  and  will 
preserve  its  name  to  the  latest  ages.  It  was  the  birthplace  of 
Thomas  Chalmers.  I  went  to  see  this  place.  It  is  many 
years  ago,  and  going  into  an  inn  for  refreshments,  I  found  the 


152  ILLUSTRIOUS   SHOEMAKERS. 

room  covered  with  pictures  of  shepherdesses  with  their  crooks, 
and  tars  in  holiday  attire,  not  very  interesting.  But  above  the 
chimney-piece  there  stood  a  large  print,  more  respectable  than 
its  neighbors,  which  a  skipper,  the  captain  of  one  of  the  few 
ships  that  trade  between  that  town  and  England,  had  probably 
brought  there.  It  represented  a  cobbler's  room.  The  cobbler 
was  there  himself,  spectacles  on  nose,  an  old  shoe  between  his 
knees,  the  massive  forehead  and  firm  mouth  expressing  great  de- 
termination of  character,  and  below  his  bushy  eyebrows  benev- 
olence gleamed  out  on  a  number  of  poor  ragged  boys  and  girls 
who  stood  at  their  lessons  around  the  busy  cobbler.  My  curi- 
osity was  excited,  and  on  the  inscription  I  read  how  this  man, 
John  Pounds,  a  cobbler  in  Portsmouth,  taking  pity  -  on  the 
poor  ragged  children,  left  by  ministers  and  magistrates,  and 
ladies  and  gentlemen,  to  run  in  the  streets,  had,  like  a  good 
shepherd,  gathered  in  the  wretched  outcasts  ;  how  he  had 
brought  them  to  God  and  the  world  ;  and  how,  while  earning 
his  bread  by  the  sweat  of  his  brow,  he  had  rescued  from  mis- 
ery, and  saved  to  society,  not  less  than  five  hundred  of  these 
children.'7  * 

The  biography  of  some  of  the  best  and  most  useful  men  the 
world  has  known  may  be  written  almost  in  a  sentence.  In  the 
Old  Testament  there  is  a  biography  of  this  kind  in  the  words, 
'*  And  Enoch  walked  with  God  :  and  he  was  not  ;  for  God 
took  him."  f  In  the  New  Testament  there  is  another  of  a  sim- 
ilar character  in  the  brief  sentence,  "  There  was  a  certain  man 
in  Cajsarea  called  Cornelius,  a  centurion  of  the  band  called  the 
Italian  band,  a  devout  man,  and  one  that  feared  God  with  all 
his  house,  who  gave  much  alms  to  the  people,  and  prayed  to 
God  alway.  "J  The  life-story  of  John  Pounds  is  told  in  the 
last  sentence  of  Dr.  Guthrie's  narrative  ;  yet  a  few  farther  de- 
tails of  the  life  and  work  of  this  noble-hearted  man  will  be  read 
with  interest  by  all  who  venerate  true  worth  and  take  pleasure 
in  contemplating  acts  of  Christ-like  charity  and  mercy. 

John  Pounds  was  born  at  Portsmouth  on  the  17th  of  June, 
1766.  He  was  only  twelve  years  old  when  his  father,  a  sawyer 
employed  in  the  government  dockyard,  had  him  bound  appren- 
tice as  a  shipwright  in  the  same  yard.  He  was  then  a  strong 
active  boy,  and  worked  with  his  father  in  the  yard  until  an  ac- 

*  "  Anecdotes  and  Stories,"  by  Rev.  Thomas  Guthrie,  D.D.     Lon- 
don :  Houlston  &  Wright,  pp.  156,  157. 
f  Gen.  5  :  24. 
%  Acts,  10  :  1,  2. 


JOHN    POUNDS.  153 

cident  maimed  him  for  life,  and  made  him  incapable  of  work- 
ing as  a  shipwright.  He  fell  into  a  dry-dock  and  broke  one 
of  his  thigh-bones,  at  the  same  time  dislocating  the  joint. 
Whether  the  fracture  was  neglected  or  not  we  do  not  know  ; 
but,  from  some  cause  or  other,  poor  Pounds  went  lame  ever 
after.  From  the  art  of  making  ships  he  was  now  fain  to  turn 
to  that  of  making  shoes,  and  finding  an  old  man  in  High 
Street,  Portsmouth,  who  was  willing  to  give  the  needful  in- 
struction, John  Pounds,  at  the  age  of  fifteen,  became  a  shoe- 
maker. Indeed,  he  would  scarcely  have  claimed  that  title  of 
dignity  for  himself  ;  for  his  chief  thoughts  were  given  to  other 
affairs,  so  that  he  was  never  an  adept  at  his  cr^ft,  and  would  in 
all  probability  have  preferred  to  be  set  down  as  "  only  a  cob- 
bler." It  was  not  until  1804,  when  Pounds  was  thirty-eight 
years  of  age,  that  "  he  ventured  to  become  a  tenant  on  his  own 
account  of  the  small,  weather-boarded  tenement  in  St.  Mary's 
Street."  It  was  in  this  humble  abode  that  John  Pounds  lived 
and  worked  and  carried  on  his  benevolent  labors  for  thirty- 
five  years.  The  room  appears  to  have  been  about  the  size  and 
shape  of  an  open  third-class  railway  carriage,  and  the  entire 
tenement  had  more  the  appearance  of  a  shanty  or  hut  than  an 
ordinary  dwelling-house.  Yet  it  was  amply  sufficient  for  the 
poor  cobbler' s  purposes,  and  served  as  the  field  of  operations 
in  all  his  benevolent  enterprises. 

Pounds  lived  alone  in  his  snug  little  home  ;  and  as  his  earn- 
ings, though  small,  were  more  than  enough  to  meet  the  require- 
ments of  a  bachelor,  he  felt  it  right  to  do  something  to  assist 
his  poor  relatives.  He  had  a  brother — a,  seafaring  man — whose 
family  was  large  and  stood  in  need  of  assistance.  John  ac- 
cordingly proposed  to  take  one  of  his  brother's  children  and 
clothe,  board,  and  educate  him  as  if  he  had  been  his  own. 
With  characteristic  generosity  of  spirit,  he  selected  a  poor  little 
fellow  who  was  a  cripple.  The  child's  feet  turned  inward, 
and,  as  he  walked,  he  had  to  lift  them  one  over  another.  The 
tender-hearted  cobbler  could  not  endure  to  see  the  deformity, 
and  soon  devised  the  means  of  remedy.  A  neighbor's  child  who 
suffered  in  the  same  way  had  been  provided  by  a  surgeon  with 
a  set  of  irons  which  straightened  his  feet  and  enabled  him  to 
walk  properly.  Unable  to  purchase  irons  for  his  own  little 
charge,  Pounds  set  to  work  to  construct  something  in  lieu  of 
them  to  answer  the  same  purpose.  His  apparatus,  made  out  of 
old  shoe  soles,  answered  admirably,  and  he  soon  had  the  grati- 
fication of  seeing  the  little  fellow  entirely  cured  of  his  defect. 


15-4  ILLUSTRIOUS    SHOEMAKERS. 

This  boy  grew  up  under  his  uncle's  care,  was  put  apprentice  to 
a  fashionable  shoemaker,  and  lived  with  Pounds  till  the  time 
of  his  death. 

When  his  nephew  was  old  enough  to  begin  to  learn  to  read, 
John  Pounds  resolved  to  do  the  work  of  a  schoolmaster  him- 
self ;  and,  thinking  that  his  little  pupil  would  get  on  better  if 
he  had  a  companion,  he  began  to  look  round  for  some  one  to 
share  the  benefit  of  his  instructions.  He  selected  a  poor  little 
urchin,  "  the  son  of  a  poor  woman  who  went  about  selling  pud- 
dings, her  homeless  children,  unable  to  accompany  her,  being 
left  in  the  open  street  amid  frost  and  snow,  with  no  other  shelter 
than  the  overhanging  shade  of  a  bay-window."  *  Other  pupils 
were  added  in  course  of  time,  and  the  shoemaker  soon  began  to 
take  great  delight  in  the  work  of  teaching.  It  was  not  very 
difficult  in  Portsmouth  to  find  plenty  of  children  whose  educa- 
tion and  training  were  entirely  neglected  by  their  parents,  and 
who  were  suffered  to  run  about  the  streets  in  the  most  ragged 
and  destitute  condition.  The  sight  of  these  children  moved 
him  to  pity  ;  and,  once  embarked  on  the  enterprise  of  reform- 
ing and  teaching  them,  Pounds  could  not  rest  content  with  hav- 
ing half  a  dozen  or  a  dozen  of  them  under  his  care,  but  went 
on  gathering  them  into  his  room  until  he  had,  in  the  later  years 
of  his  life,  an  average  of  forty  poor  children  under  his  charge 
at  a  time.  He  loved  his  work  all  the  more  because  it  was  en- 
tirely gratuitous,  and  because  he  knew  that  if  these  poor  chil- 
dren were  not  thus  taught  they  would  never  be  taught  at  all,  but 
grow  up  in  ignorance,  misery,  and  vice.  No  amount  of  pains, 
self-sacrifice,  and  anxiety  was  too  much  for  this  true  disciple  of 
Christ  to  pay  for  the  satisfaction  of  doing  such  children  good, 
and  enriching  and  ennobling  all  their  future  lives. 

The  editor  of  the  "  Memoir  of  John  Pounds"  thus  desciibes 
the  cobbler  in  the  midst  of  his  scholars  :  4t  His  humble  work- 
shop was  about  six  feet  wide  and  about  eighteen  feet  in  depth, 
in  the  midst  of  which  he  would  sit  on  his  stool,  with  his  last  or 
lapstone  on  his  knee,  and  other  implements  by  his  side,  going 
on  with  his  woik  and  attending  at  the  same  time  to  the  pursuits 
of  the  whole  assemblage — some  of  whom  were  reading  by  his 
side,  writing  from  his  dictation,  or  showing  up  their  sums  ; 

*  "  A  Memoir  of  JoliD  Pounds."  Foord,  Stationer,  Landport  ;  p.  9. 
The  writer  is  indebted  to  this  brief  memoir  for  most  of  the  facts 
stated  in  this  sketch.  He  is  also  indebted  for  information  to  the 
courtesy  of  Rev.  T.  Timmins,  Portsmouth,  pastor  of  the  congregation 
of  which  John  Pounds  was  a  member. 


JOHN    POUNDS.  155 

others  seated  around  on  forms  or  boxes  on  the  floor,  or  on  the 
steps  of  a  small  staircase  in  the  rear.  Although  the  master 
seemed  to  know  where  to  look  for  each  and  to  maintain  a  due 
•command  over  all,  yet  so  small  was  the  room,  and  so  deficient 
in  the  usual  accommodation  of  a  school,  that  the  scene  appeared 
to  the  observer  from  without  to  be  a  mere  crowd  of  children's 
heads  and  faces/7  * 

The  smallness  of  his  room  made  selection  necessary  when  the 
number  of  candidates  for  instruction  became  unusually  large. 
In  this  case  he  always  chose  the  worst  and  most  desperate  cases, 
preferring  to  take  in  hand  "  the  little  blackguards, "  as  he 
termed  them,  and  turn  them  into  decent  members  of  society. 
At  other  times,  "  he  has  been  seen  to  follow  such  to  the  town- 
quay,  and  hold  out  in  his  hand  to  them  the  bribe  of  a  roasted 
potato  to  induce  them  to  come  to  school. "  f  On  fine  warm  days 
the  school  "  ran  over"  into  the  street,  the  children  who  be- 
haved best  being  allowed  to  sit  near  the  door,  or  on  a  bench 
outside. 

His  method  of  teaching  was  of  the  simplest  and  most  graphic 
character,  and  seemed,  although  John  Pounds,  of  course,  knew 
nothing  of  such  things",  to  combine  the  features  of  the  Pesta- 
lozzian  and  Kindergarten  systems.  He  would  point  to  the 
different  parts  of  the  body,  get  the  pupil  to  tell  their  names, 
and  then  to  spell  them.  Taking  a  child's  hand,  he  would  say, 
"  What  is  this  ?  Spell  it."  Then  slapping  it  he  would  say, 
11  What  did  I  do?  Spell  that." 

With  the  older  pupils  he  went  as  far  as  his  knowledge  would 
allow  of,  teaching  them  to  read  by  means  of  handbills,  or  mak- 
ing use  of  such  old  school-books  as  he  had  been  able  to  beg,  or 
buy  cheap.  Slate  and  pencils  only  were  used  for  teaching 
writing,  "  yet  a  creditable  degree  of  skill  was  acquired,  and  in 
ciphering,  the  Rule  of  Three  and  Practice  were  performed  with 
accuracy. ' ' 

Pounds  made  efforts  to  clothe  and  feed  as  well  as  educate 
his  destitute  pupils,  many  of  whom  were  in  a  deplorable  con- 
dition of  rags  and  dirt.  He  was  anxious  to  take  them  with  him 
on  Sundays  to  the  meeting-house  which  he  attended,  and 
would  have  them  decently  clad  and  properly  washed.  "  In 
one  corner  of  his  room  was  a  bag  full  of  all  sorts  of  garments 
for  girls  and  boys,  which  he  had  begged  and  mended,  to  be 
worn  by  his  scholars  on  Sundays,  and  when  they  went  with 

*  "Memoir  of  John  Pounds,"  p.  10.  f  Ibid,  p.  10. 


156  ILLUSTRIOUS    SIIOKMAKKKS. 

him  to  the  house  of  God.  The  garments  took  the  place  of 
worse  ones  ;  for  John  took  pride  in  the  decent,  clean  appear- 
ance of  his  pupils.  Imagine  him  on  a  Sunday  morning,  with 
his  children  round  him,  and  his  big  bag  open,  and  his  handing 
the  garments  round,  with  the  soul  of  kindness  in  his  eyes  and 
the  joy  of  God  in  his  heait  !"  *  lie  might  often  have  been  seen 
on  Saturday  nights  going  round  to  the  bakehouses  to  buy  bread 
for  his  poor  children  to  eat  on  Sundays,  gathering  it  into  his 
huge  leathern  apron,  and,  when  his  money  was  all  spent,  stand- 
ing slill  with  a  troubled  look,  searching  in  all  his  pockets  for  a 
fow  more  coppers  in  order  to  secure  yet  one  more  loaf  to  add 
to  his  store. 

When  he  was  in  need  of  books  for  his  pupils,  lie  did  not  hes- 
itate to  go  to  the  houses  of  well-to-do  citizens  and  explain  his 
case,  and  ask  them  for  aid.  For  the  most  part,  he  met  with 
much  kindness  and  sympathy,  for  many  of  the  inhabitants  of 
Portsmouth  and  the  neighboring  towns  knew  the  benevolent 
cobbler  of  St.  Mary's  Street.  But  now  and  then  he  met  with 
rebuffs  from  those  who  did  not  know  him,  or  fiom  chuilish 
souls  who  could  not  feel  for  the  sufferings  of  the  poor.  If  he 
alone  had  suffered  from  these  rebuffs,  the  brave  and  sensible  old 
man  would  have  borne  them  calmly  enough  ;  but  a  \vord  spoken 
against  his  helpless  little  scholars  was  enough  at  any  time  to 
rouse  his  warmest  feelings.  Once  he  called  on -a  gentleman  of 
considerable  means  to  ask  the  favor  of  a  few  old  disused  books 
for  the  use  of  the  pupils  in  reading.  4t  Let  them  buy  books  !" 
was  the  only  response  he  got  to  his  generous  appeal.  "  Poor 
little  beggars  !"  he  exclaimed  ;  "  they  can  scarcely  get  bread, 
let  alone  books,"  and  turned  away  with  ill-concealed  disgust 
from  the  gentleman's  presence. 

Pounds  taught  his  pupils  many  other  things  besides  "  the 
three  R's. "  Many  of  the  boys  received  instruction  in  the  use- 
ful arts  of  shoe-mending  and  tailoring,  so  that  when  they  grew 
up  they  found  their  little  knowledge  of  great  practical  utility, 
lie  even  went  so  far  as  to  teach  the  lads  and  lasses  how  to  cook 
their  plain  food,  and  make  the  best  of  everything.  In  fact, 
nothing  that  children  required  to  make  them  happy  and  com- 
fortable, and  to  fit  them  for  the  duties  of  after-years,  did  the 
good  cobbler  overlook  or  neglect.  He  made  their  playthings — 
bats,  balls,  crossbows,  shuttlecocks,  kites,  what-not  ;  went  out 
with  them  on  holiday  and  festive  gatherings  ;  got  them  gifts  of 

*  Rev.  T.  Timmins,  Portsmouth,  in  a  letter  to  the  writer. 


JOHN    POUNDS.  157 

tea  and  cake,  and  had  them  assembled  in  a  neighboring  school- 
room for  public  examination  ;  saw  that  they  were  included  at 
the  public  dinners,  such  as  the  celebration  of  Her  Majesty's 
coronation  in  1837  ;  and  from  year  to  year  had  the  satisfaction 
of  seeing  them  grow  up  and  take  honorable  and  useful  positions 
in  society.  This,  in  fact,  was  his  reward — all  he  looked  for, 
all  he  ever  had,  except  the  approval  of  Him  who  said,  "  Inas- 
much as  ye  have  done  it  unto  one  of  the  least  of  these  ray  breth- 
ren, ye  have  done  it  unto  Me." 

It  was  no  uncommon  thing  during  the  last  years  of  John 
Pound's  life  for  some  fine,  manly  fellow,  soldier  or  sailor  on 
furlough,  or  workman  passing  through  the  town,  to  turn  in  at 
the  old  room,  where  the  good  cobbler  was  still  going  on  with 
his  good  work,  in  order  to  shake  hands  with  him,  and  thank 
him,  while  the  big  tears  stood  in  the  eyes  of  both  master  and 
pupil,  as  the  latter  spoke  of  his  rescue  fiom  starvation,  poverty, 
or  crime,  and  of  the  fair  start  in  life  which  he  had  received  at 
the  hands  of  the  worthy  cobbler.  And  to  this  day  there  are 
men  and  women  by  the  score,  in  respectable  and  comfortable 
positions,  who  can  tell  the  same  tale.  "  During  the  seven  years 
I  have  been  minister  here,"  writes  the  pastor  of  the  chapel  in 
the  graveyard  of  which  John  Pounds  was  buried,  "  I  have  seen 
paying  a  pilgrimage  to  his  tomb  a  number  of  those  who  were 
taught  by  him,  and  who,  passing  through  the  town,  or  coming 
for  a  short  time  to  Portsmouth  (as  they  belonged  to  the  army 
or  navy),  thus  showed  their  grateful  feeling  toward  their  ven- 
erated teacher  and  friend.  They  have  told  me  in  touching  lan- 
guage, and  almost  sobbing  the  while,  of  the  debt  of  gratitude 
they  owed  him." 

The  useful  life  of  this  philanthropist  came  to  an  end  on  New 
Year's  Day,  1889.  A  few  days  previously  he  went  to  the 
house  of  his  friend  Edward  Carter,  Esq.,  who  then  lived  in 
High  Street,  Portsmouth,  to  acknowledge  certain  acts  of  kind- 
ness done  in  behalf  of  his  little  scholars.  While  there,  he  saw 
the  painting  referred  to  at  the  beginning  of  this  sketch,  which 
that  gentleman  had  purchased  of  Mr.  Sheaf,  the  shoemaker- 
artist.  The  simple-minded  man,  whose  love  for  dumb  animals 
and  domestic  pets  was  one  of  the  most  amiable  features  in  his 
character,  seemed  to  be  more  pleased  by  finding  his  favorite  cat 
included  in  the  picture  than  by  any  other  part  of  the  painting. 
He  then  showed  Mr.  Carter  the  writing  and  ciphering  lessons  of 
one  of  the  pupils,  and  asked  for  aid  in  procuring  copy-books. 
A  day  or  two  after  this  John  Pounds  again  called  on  his  friend, 


158  ILLUSTRIOUS   SHOEMAKERS. 

and  while  conversing  with  him  on  matters  connected  with  the 
school,  fell  down  as  if  fainting.  Medical  aid  was  called  in,  but 
John  Pounds  was  dead  before  the  doctor  arrived.  The  body 
was  conveyed  to  the  little  room  in  St.  Mary's  Street,  where  about 
thirty  children  were  waiting  for  their  teacher  to  come  and  com- 
mence the  day's  work,  and  "  wondering  what  had  become  of 
him."  Terror  and  grief  seized  upon  the  minds  of  the  children 
when  they  saw  the  lifeless  body  of  their  kind  teacher  borne 
into  the  room  and  laid  upon  the  bed.  On  the  following  day  a 
group  of  children  might  have  been  seen  standing  at  the  door 
weeping  because  they  could  not  be  admitted.  Day  after  day 
"  the  younger  ones  came,  looked  about  the  room,  and  not  find- 
ing their  friend,  went  away  disconsolate. " 

Mr.  Martell,  the  physician  who  had  been  called  in  when 
Pounds  was  dying,  asked  the  favor  of  being  allowed  to  pay  the 
expenses  of  the  funeral.  John  Pounds  was  buried  in  the  grave- 
yard of  the  chapel  in  High  Street  where  he  had  been  a  constant 
worshipper.  A  large  number  of  people  gathered  round  the 
grave,  among  whom  the  most  conspicuous  and  sincere  mourners 
were  ihe  children  now  bereaved  of  their  teacher  and  best  earthly 
friend. 

A  tablet  was  placed  on  the  wall  of  the  High  Street  Chapel 
bearing  the  following  inscription  : 

ERECTED  BY  FRIENDS 
As  A  MEMORIAL  OF  THEIR  ESTEEM  AND  RESPECT 

FOR 

JOHN  POUNDS  ; 

WHO,  WHILE  EARNING  HIS  LIVELIHOOD 
BY  MENDING  SHOES,  GRATUITOUSLY  EDUCATED 

AND,    IN  PART,    CLOTHED  AND   FfiD, 

SOME  HUNDREDS  OF  POOR  CHILDREN. 

HE  DIED  SUDDENLY 

ON  THE  FIRST  OF  JANUARY  1839, 

AGED  72  YEARS. 


"  THOU  SHALT  BE  BLESSED  : — FOR  THEY  CANNOT 
RECOMPENSE  THEE." 

Over  the  grave  a  monument  was  erected,  the  cost  of  which 
was  defrayed,  as  the  inscription  states,  "  By  means  of  penny 


JOHN    POUNDS.  159 

subscriptions,  not  only  from  the  Christian  Brotherhood  with 
whom  John  Pounds  habitually  worshipped  in  the  adjoining 
chapel,  but  from  persons  of  widely  differing  religious  opinions 
throughout  Great  Britain,  and  from  the  most  distant  parts  of  the 
world. ' '  Another  memento  took  the  form  of  a  library  for  the 
use  of  the  poor  people  of  the  neighborhood  in  which  the  phil- 
anthropic shoemaker  lived  and  labored.  A  Ragged  School  has 
also  been  built  which  bears  his  name,  and  in  which  the  good 
work  he  inaugurated  in  Plymouth  is  now  carried  on.  In  1879 
the  "  John  Pounds  Coffee  Tavern' '  was  opened.  Happy  are 
they  who  can  say  with  Lord  Shaftesbury,  in  the  closing  words 
of  his  speech  at  the  opening  of  this  institution  — 

"  I  AM  A  DISCIPLE  OF  JOHN  POUNDS." 


THOMAS  COOPER 


!rTBE    SELF-EDUCATED    SHOEMAKER'1    WHO    "BEARED    HIS 
OWX    MONUMENT.1'* 


•"  I  consuming  fire 
Felt  daily  in  ray  veins  to  see  my  race 
Emerge  from  out  the  foul  defiling  mire 
O&aniiual  enjoyments  that  debase 
Their  nature,  and  well-nigh  its  Lineaments  efface. 

I  burned  to  see  ray  species  proudly  count 
Themselves  /or  more  than  brutes;  and  toiled  to  draw 
Them  on  to  drink  at  Virtue's  living  fount, 
Whence  purest  pleasures  flow.     .     .     . 

Canst  thou  blame 

My  course?  I  tell  thee,  thirst  for  human  laud 
Impelled  me  not:  'twas  my  sole-thoughted  aim 
To  render  Man,  my  brother,  worthy  his  high  name!" 

— Enipedvdes.  in  "  The  Purgatory  of  Suicides" 
Stanzas  35-37. 

"  Few  shrewder,  kindlier  men  have  fought  the  battle  of  life." — London 

Quarterly  Review. 

"  He  is  a  man  of  vast  reading,  and  indomitable  courage.  His  Autobi- 
ography is  a  remarkable  book,  well  worth  reading." — Editor  of  "  Charle* 
Kingsleifs  Life  and  Letter*? 


*See  closing  sentences   of    preface   to   "Purgatory   of  Suicides,"   by 
Thomas  Cooper,  early  editions. 


THOMAS   COOPER. 

"  THE  Lord's  will  be  done  !  I  don't  think  He  intends  tliee 
to  spend  thy  life  at  shoemaking.  I  have  kept  thee  at  school, 
and  worked  hard  to  get  -thee  bread,  and  to  let  thee  have  thy 
own  wish  in  learning,  and  never  imagined  that  thou  wast  to  be 
a  shoemaker.  But  the  Lord's  will  be  done  !  He'll  bring  it  all 
right  in  time."  Such  were  the  words  with  which  the  worthy 
and  excellent  mother  of  Thomas  Cooper  gave  her  consent  to 
her  boy's  proposal  that  he  should  go  and  learn  "  the  art,  craft, 
and  mystery  of  shoemaking. "  He  had  no  particular  love  for 
the  craft,  but  he  was  anxious  to  do  something  for  a  livelihood, 
and  desirous  of  helping  his  widowed  mother  ;  and,  above  all, 
he  was  ashamed  of  being  pointed  at  by  his  neighbors  as  li  an 
idle  good-for-nothing. "  That  never  was  true  of  Thomas 
Cooper  either  in  school  or  out,  at  work  or  recreation  ;  and  now 
that  he  had  left  school  and  was  turned  of  fifteen  years  of  age, 
he  could  not  brook  the  insinuation  that  he  was  unwilling  to 
work  ;  so,  good  scholar  as  he  was,  and  zealous  for  learning, 
and  not  without  ambition,  he  resolved  on  doing  something, 
however  humble,  to  earn  his  bread,  in  order  to  shut  the  mouths 
of  tattling  neighbors.  His  mother  had  tried  to  get  him  ap- 
prenticed as  a  painter  or  a  merchant's  clerk,  and  failed  for  want 
of  a  premium  ;  and  he  had  made  a  brief  experiment  at  sailoring 
down  at  Hull,  and  had  come  home  again  utterly  loathing  the 
cruelty  and  abuse  to  which  a  sailor-boy  of  those  days  was  sub- 
jected ;  so  there  was  nothing  for  him  now  but  to  take  the  first 
chance  of  learning  any  trade  that  came  in  his  way.  He  was  an^ 
only  child,  and  his  mother  had  been  a  widow  eleven  years,  get- 
ting her  living  as  a  dyer,  in  which  occupation  she  had  assisted 
her  husband  during  his  lifetime.  In  the  pursuit  of  his  trade  as 
a  dyer  he  had  moved  about  from  town  to  town,  and  had  met  with 
his  wife  at  Gainsborough  in  Lincolnshire.  Not  long  after  their 
marriage  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Cooper  removed  to  Leicester,  and  took 
a  house  in  Soar  Lane,  conveniently  situated  by  the  river  Soar. 
Here  Thomas,  their  only  child,  was  born  on  the  20th  of  March, 
1805.  Twelve  months  afterward  they  went  to  live  at  Exeter, 
where  the  father  died  when  his  little  boy  was  but  four  years 


160  ILLUSTRIOUS    SHOEMAKERS* 

old.  After  this  his  mother  at  once  went  back  to  old  Gains- 
borough, where  she  would  be  near  her  relatives.  Here  she 
remained  for  the  rest  of  her  life,  and  here  the  fiist  twenty-nine 
years  of  Thomas  Cooper's  life  were  spent. 

The  signs  her  boy  had  given  of  mental  powers  above  the 
average  were  quite  enough  to  warrant  Mrs.  Cooper's  pathetic 
speech  when  he  sought  permission  to  become  a  shoemaker. 
His  memory  was  remarkably  retentive,  arid  dated  from  a  period 
which  must  be  regarded  as  exceptionally  eaily.  On  the  day 
that  he  was  two  years  old  he  fell  into  a  stream  that  ran  in  front 
of  his  father's  house,  and  was  nearly  drowned.  He  declares 
that  he  distinctly  remembers  being  led  by  his  father's  hand  over 
St.  Thomas's  Bridge  on  the  afternoon  of  that  same  day,  and 
how  the  neighbors  44  chucked  him  under  the  chin,  and  said, 
How  did  you  like  it  ?  How  did  you  fall  in  ?  \Yhere  have  you 
been  to  ?"  Writing  in  1871  he  says,  44  The  circumstances  are 
as  vivid  to  my  mind  as  if  they  only  occurred  yesterday." 
Heading  came  to  him  almost  by  instinct,  and  at  three  years  of 
age  his  schoolmistress  set  him  on  a  stool  to  teach  a  boy  more 
than  twice  his  own  age  the  letters  of  the  alphabet.  At  the 
same  age  he  could  repeat  several  of  yEsop's  fables.  On  their 
removal  to  Gainsborough  lie  was  seized  with  small-pox,  which 
fearful  complaint  marred  his  visage  for  life.  This  was  followed 
by  other  complaints  which  kept  him  an  imalid  for  a  year.  On 
his  recovery  he  had  to  bear  the  annoyance,  so  bitterly  painful 
to  a  child,  of  being  cither  scouted  or  pitied  for  his  altered 
looks.  But  the  kindness  he  failed  to  lind  out  of-doors  was 
more  than  doubled  at  home.  The  heait  of  a  true  mother  and 
a  right  noble  woman  warmed  toward  the  child  in  his  weakness 
and  sad  disfigurement.  Never  had  needy  child  a  more  devoted 
parent.  It  was  hard  work  for  the  solitary  woman  to  make  a 
living  and  pay  her  way,  yet  she  bore  up  bravely  and  did  the 
best  she  could  for  her  child.  The  picture  which  is  given  by 
Thomas  Cooper  in  his  Autobiography  of  his  home  at  this  time, 
and  of  his  own  and  his  mother's  position,  has  a  pre-Raphaelite 
simplicity  about  it,  and  well  deserves  a  moment's  attention. 
44  Within  doors  there  was  no  longer  a  handsome  room,  the 
cheerful  look  of  my  father,  and  his  little  songs  and  stories. 
\Ve  had  now  but  one  chamber  and  one  lower  room,  and  the 
last-named  at  once  parlor,  kitchen,  and  dye-house  :  two  large 
coppers  were  set  in  one  part  of  it  ;  and  my  mother  was  at  work 
amid  steam  and  sweat  all  the  day  long  for  half  of  the  week,  and 
on  the  other  half  she  was  fully  employed  in  4<  framing,"  iron- 


THOMAS    COOPER.  167 

ing,  and  finishing  her  work.  Yet  for  me  she  had  ever  words 
of  tenderness.  My  altered  face  had  not  unendeared  me  to  her. 
In  the  midst  of  her  heavy  toil,  she  could  listen  to  my  feeble 
repetitions  of  the  fables,  or  spare  a  look,  at  my  entreaty,  for 
the  figures  I  was  drawing  with  chalk  upon  the  hearthstone. ' '  * 
Returning  to  school  again,  he  was,  at  five  years  of  age,  his 
teacher's  favorite  pupil,  for  he  could  t;  read  the  tenth  chapter 
of  Nehemiah,  with  all  its  hard  names,  like  the  parson  in  the 
church,  as  she  used  to  say,  and  spell  wondrously."  Wander- 
ing through  the  woods  with  ,his  mother,  or  going  with  her  on 
her  country  business  rounds  when  the  weather  was  fine  ;  poring 
over  Baskervilla's  quarto  Bible  with  its  fine  engravings  from 
the  old  masters,  when  compelled  on  wet  Sundays  to  stop  in- 
doors, the  sensitive  mind  of  the  eager  child  received  its  first 
impressions  of  the  beautiful  in  nature  and  art.  When  he  was 
eight  years  of  age  his  mother  succeeded  in  getting  him  admit- 
ted to  a  new  Free  School,  recently  opened  in  the  town,  and 
little  Tom  was  placed  upon  the  foundation  as  a  "  Bluecoat" 
scholar.  The  course  of  instruction  at  this  school  was  neither 
varied  nor  profound,  consisting  entirely  of  Scripture  reading, 
writing,  and  the  first  four  rules  of  arithmetic  ;  but  its  frequent 
repetitions  of  spelling  and  ciphering  lessons  were  good  as  a  be- 
ginning, and  laid  a  fair  basis  vfor  future  learning.  Obliged  to 
attend  the  parish  church  with  the  rest  of  the  "  Bluecoats,"  he 
became  enamoured  with  the  stately  service  of  the  Church  of 
England,  the  superior  singing,  and  the  grand  old  organ  ;  and 
great  was  his  delight  when  he  was  chosen,  on  account  of  his 
good  voice  and  musical  ear,  to  sit  with  six  other  boys  in  the 
choir  by  the  organ  up  in  the  gallery  of  the  church.  During 
these  three  years,  from  the  age  of  eight  to  eleven,  he  began  to 
read  for  pleasure  or  profit  such  books  as  the  immortal  "  Pil- 
grim's Progress,"  or  Baines's  "  History  of  the  War,"  "  Pa- 
mela/' and  the  "  Earl  of  Moreland,"  and  to  revel  in  such 
ballads  as  "  Chevy  Chase,"  which  were  committed  to  memory 
and  repeated  when  alone,  and  served  to  stir  up  in  his  young 
heart  the  poetic  or  the  warlike  spirit.  But  these  were  years  of 
severe  trial  too,  for  the  great  wars  were  then  raging  on  the 
Continent  ;  taxes  pressed  with  terrible  weight  on  all  classes,  but 
especially  on  the  poor  ;  and,  added  to  these  troubles,  were  the 
evils  of  bad  harvests  and  winters  unusually  severe.  It  was  hard 
indeed  for  his  mother  to  make  a  living  in  such  times,  and  to 

*  "  The  Life  of  Thomas  Cooper,  Written  by  Himself."     Hodder  & 
Stoughton,  1872  ;  p.  7. 


108  1LLUST1UOUS    fcilOKMAKKKS. 

provide  the  barest  subsistence  for  herself  and  child.  **  At  one 
time,"  he  says,  t4  wheaten  flour  rose  to  six  shillings  per  fit  one, 
and  we  tried  to  live  on  barley -cakes,  which  brought  on  a  burn- 
ing, gnawing  pain  at  the  stomach.  For  two  seasons  the  corn 
was  spoiled  in  the  fields  with  wet  ;  and  when  the  winter  came, 
we  could  scoop  out  the  middle  of  the  soft  distasteful  loaf,  and 
to  eat  it  brought  on  sickness.  Meat  was  so  dear  that  my 
mother  could  not  buy  it,  and  often  our  dinner  consisted  of 
potatoes  alone. "  In  three  yeais  the  little  Bluecoat  boy  had 
grown  weary  of  the  monotonous  lound  of  teaching  at  the  Free 
School,  and  got  his  mother's  consent  to  attend  a  better  class  of 
school  for  boys,  kept  by  a  man  who  was  known  among  his 
pupils  and  the  neighbors  as  *'  Daddy  Briggs."  Here  there  was 
talk  of  such  abstruse  subjects  as  mensuration  and  algebra  ;  4<  En- 
field's  Speaker'7  was  used  for  reading,  and  the  scholars  went 
deeply  into  the  histories  of  Greece  and  Rome  and  England,  led 
on  by  that  profound  and  original  historian,  Goldsmith  !  How- 
ever, the  school  was  an  immense  advance  on  the  one  just  left, 
and  offered  certain  opportunities  of  intercourse  with  boys  of 
better  position  and  culture  than  Tom  had  known  before. 

The  boy  must  have  made  good  use  of  his  time  at  the  Free 
School,  for,  it  seems,  he  went  to  Daddy  Briggs'  academy  as 
much  in  the  character  of  a  teacher  as  that  of  a  pupil  ;  and  he 
says  of  this  good-natured  but  not  very  accomplished  master  : 
44  He  took  no  school-fees  of  my  mother,  but  employed  me  as 
an  assistant,  for  about  an  hour  each  day,  in  teaching  the 
younger  children.  He  treated  me  less  as  a  pupil  lli.ui  as  a 
companion,  and  I  became  much  attached  to  him.  Yet  he  was 
never  really  a  teacher  to  me.  I  .made  my  way  easily  without 
help  through  WaikingLaine,  part  of  Bonnycastle,  and  got  a  lit- 
tle way  into  algebra  before  I  left  school."  By  this  time  he 
had  acquired  an  intense  thirst  for  reading,  and  eagerly  sought 
out  every  book  within  reach.  Now  he  borrowed  the  school- 
books  of  his  companions  and  read  them  through,  and  now  he 
resorted  to  the  "  cii dilating  library,"  at  the  shop  of  an  old 
lady  who  supplied  him  with  writing  materials,  and,  as  a  great 
favor,  was  allowed  to  read  such  books  as  were  not  immediately 
required  for  circulation  ;  or,  again,  he  seized  upon  the  cheap 
issues  of  educational  works  which  were  beginning  to  make  their 
appearance  about  this  time,  and  were  sold  at  the  doors  of  the 
good  Gainsborough  folk  by  that  important  personage  "  the 
number  man."  At  twelve  years  of  age  he  had  thus  made  the 
acquuintance  of  the  classic  English  poets,  had  lead  "  Cook's 


THOMAS   COOPER.  169 

Voyages, "  the  "  Arabian  Nights/7  the  "  Old  English  Baron," 
besides  "  a  heap  of  other  romances  and  novels  it  would  require 
pages  even  to  name." 

At  thirteen  years  of  age  the  poetry  of  Byron  made  a  deep 
impression  on  his  mind.  Nothing  in  poetry  but  "  Chevy 
Chase"  had  ever  moved  his  heart  before.  Of  "  Childe  Har- 
old "  and  "  Manfred  "  he  says,  "  They  seemed  to  create  almost 
a  new  sense  within  me."  Poetry  was  henceforth  a  passion 
with  him  ;  but  few  subjects  came  amiss  :  he  read  everything  he 
could  lay  hold  of. 

About  this  time,  too,  he  showed  tendencies  in  two  direc- 
tions, which  were  strongly  developed  subsequently,  and,  in 
fact,  formed  the  main  features  of  his  character  in  after-years. 
The  conversation  of  certain  working-men  politicians  in  a  neigh- 
boring brush  manufactory,  and  the  loan  of  "  Hone's  Carica- 
tures" and  "  The  News,"  set  him  off  in  the  direction  of  poli- 
tics, and  made  him,  of  course,  a  disciple  of  Radicalism.  But 
the  other  change  in  the  current  of  his  thoughts,  which  came  a 
little  later  on,  was  more  important,  if  not  more  profound  and 
lasting.  Deeply  emotional  and  imaginative  as  a  child,  having 
also  a  strong  sense,  of  moral  right  and  wrong,  he  was  easily 
moved  by  religious  appeals.  A  band  of  Primitive  Methodists 
having  come  to  the  town,  he  was  caught  up  by  their  enthusiasm 
and  zeal,  and  resolved  to  join  them.  After  much  religious 
emotion,  ending  in  no  very  settled  state  of  mind,  he  left  them 
and  united  with  the  Wesleyan  Methodists,  whose  services  and 
preaching  were  more  to  his  mind.  This  brings  us  up  to  the 
time  of  his  leaving  school  at  the  age  of  fifteen,  and  his  entrance 
on  the  sterner  work  of  life  as  a  shoemaker.  True,  he  had  not 
done  anything  very  marvellous  at  present,  but  he  had  fine  abili- 
ties, a  warm  emotional  nature,  a  rare  poetic  taste,  a  thorough 
craving  for  books,  and  no  little  perseverance  and  industry. 
Good  Mrs.  Cooper,  therefore,  showed  something  more  than  a 
mother's  fond  fancy  when  she  said,  "  The  Lord's  will  be  done  ; 
I  don't  think  He  intends  thee  to  spend  thy  life  at  shoe- 
making.  ' ' 

The  society  in  John  Clarke's  garret,  where  young  Cooper  sat 
down  to  learn  his  trade,  was,  like  that  of  many  similar  places, 
rather  literary.  This  man  Clarke,  true  to  the  reputation  of  the 
followers  of  St.  Crispin,  was  thoughtful  and  fond  of  reading. 
The  conversation  ran  on  the  poetry  of  Shakespeare  and  Byron, 
and  the  acting  of  Kemble  and  Young  and  Mrs.  Siddons — the 
stars  of  that  day  in  the  theatrical  world.  One  of  the  fruits  of 


170  ILLUSTKIOUS   SHOEMAKERS. 

this  new  poetic  impulse  was  Cooper's  first  poem,  made  one 
spring  morning  in  his  fifteenth  year,  as  he  walked  in  the  fields 
near  Gainsborough.  Quoting  this  short  piece  in  his  Auto- 
biography, he  says  :  "  I  give  it  here,  be  it  remembered,  as  the 
first  literary  feat  of  a  self-educated  boy  of  fifteen.  I  say  self- 
educated,  so  far  as  I  was  educated.  Mine  has  been  almost 
entirely  self-education  all  the  way  through  life/'  Great  merit 
or  promise  is  not  claimed  for  these  lines,  yet  they  are  worth 
quoting,  if  only  for  the  sake  of  comparing  them  with  the  first 
attempt  of  another  young  shoemaker,  Bloomfield.* 

A  MORNING  IN  SPRING. 

"  See  with  splendor  Phoebus  rise, 
And  with  beauty  tinge  the  skies. 
See  the  clouds  of  darkness  fly 
Far  beyond  the  Western  sky  ; 
While  the  lark  upsoaring  sings, 
And  the  air  with  music  rings  ; 
While  the  blackbird,  linnet,  thrush, 
Perched  on  yonder  thorny  bush, 
All  unite  in  tuneful  choir, 
And  raise  the  happy  music  higher. 
While  the  murmuring  busy  bee, 
Pattern  of  wakeful  industry, 
Flies  from  flower  to  flower  to  drain 
The  choicest  juice  from  sweetest  vein  ; 
While  the  lowly  cottage  youth, 
His  mind  well  stored  with  sacred  truth, 
Rises,  devout,  his  thanks  to  pay, 
And  hails  the  welcome  dawn  of  day. 

Oh,  that  'twere  mine,  the  happy  lot, 
To  dwell  within  the  peaceful  cot — 
There  rise,  each  morn,  my  thanks  to  pay, 
And  hail  the  welcome  dawn  of  day  !' ' 

Cooper  stayed  with  Clarke  for  a  year  and  a  half,  and,  after 
a  brief  interval,  went  to  work  with  a  "  first-rate  hand,"  who 
was  known  in  the  shoemaking  fraternity  as  Don  Cundell.  Here 
the  youth,  more  expert  at  his  craft  than  many  of  his  compan- 
ions, learned  before  the  age  of  nineteen  to  make  "  a  really 
good  woman's  shoe."  j  During  this  period  he  seems  to  have 

*  See  above,  p.  96. 

f  This  seems  to  be  a  test  of  proficiency  in  the  trade.  Bloomfield's 
brother  says,  ' 4  Robert  is  a  ladies'  shoemaker  ;';  and  stories  are  told  of 
his  receiving,  after  he  became  famous  as  a  poet,  many  orders  from 
the  nobility  for  ladies'  boots. 


THOMAS   COOPER.  171 

settled  in  good  earnest  alike  to  his  daily  occupation  and  the 
work  of  self-culture.  Under  the  guidance  of  a  friend  named 
Macdonald,  who  lent  him  books,  he  read  such  works  as  Robert- 
son's "  Histories  of  Scotland,"  "  America/'  and  "  Charles 
the  Fifth,"  Neale's  "History  of  the  Puritans,"  and  a  little 
theology.  Like  multitudes  of  youths  in  a  position  similar 
to  his,  Thomas  Cooper  derived  much  benefit  from  a  Mutual 
Improvement  Society  which  was  started  in  Gainsborough  about 
this  time  by  a  friend  of  his,  a  draper's  assistant  named  Joseph 
Foulkes  Winks.  In  this  society  papers  were  read  and  discus- 
sions  held  on  all  imaginably  subjects,  literary,  historical,  and 
religious.  "  This  weekly  essay-writing,"  he  says,  "  was  an 
employment  which  absorbed  a  good  deal  of  my  thought,  and 
was  a  good  induction  into  the  writing  of  prose,  and  into  a 
mode  of  expressing  one's  thoughts."  On  one  occasion  a  prize 
was  offered  for  the  best  essay  on  "  The  Worst  King  of  Eng- 
land." The  tug  of  war  lay  between  Winks,  who  chose  as  his 
subject  James  II.,  and  Cooper,  who  eventually  was  adjudged 
the  victor,  and  had  taken  William  the  Conqueror  as  his  ideal 
of  a  bad  king.  The  friendship  thus  commenced  in  amicable 
rivalry  lasted,  as  we  shall  see,  through  life.  Not  content  with 
self -improvement,  these  youths,  with  Macdonald  and  Wood, 
banded  themselves  together  in  a  resolve  to  instruct  others  less 
favored  than  themselves,  and  an  "  Adult  School  "  was  formed. 
This  was  one  of  the  first  if  not  the  first  school  of  the  kind  in 
Lincolnshire,  and  must  have  proved  a  great  benefit  to  the  illit- 
erate poor  of  the  town,  for  by  the  end  of  the  following  year, 
when  this  branch  was  admitted  into  u  The  Adult  Schools 
Society,"  the  numbers  on  the  books  were  324.  Friendships 
with  two  other  young  men  brought  such  books  in  his  way  as 
Sibley's  famous  illustrated  work  on  astrology,  over  which  he 
wasted  much  valuable  time,  Volney's  "  Ruins  of  Empires"  and 
Voltaire's  "  Philosophical  Dictionary,"  over  which  his  time 
was  worse  than  wasted.  But  the  best  piece  of  good  fortune  in 
the  way  of  reading  came  to  him  in  the  discovery  that  one 
"  Nathaniel  Robinson,  mercer,"  "  had  left  his  library  for  the 
use  of  the  inhabitants  of  the  town."  It  seems  that  this  boon 
had  been  neglected  or  forgotten  by  the  good  folk  of  Gains- 
borough. Once  known  to  the  ardent  young  shoemaker,  it  was 
not  neglected  nor  forgotten,  at  all  events  as  far  as  he  was  con- 
cerned. He  pounced  upon  it  with  the  avidity  and  excited  joy 
of  a  naturalist  who  lights  upon  a  new  or  rare  specimen.  We 
must  let  him  speak  for  himself  in  the  matter,  and  describe  this 


11'J  ILLUST1UOUS   SHOEMAKERS. 

precious  "  find  "  in  his  own  words.  He  says  :  "  I  was  in 
ecstasies  to  find  the  dusty,  cobwebbed  shelves  loaded  with 
Hooker,  and  Bacon,  and  Cudworth,  and  Stillingfleet,  and 
Locke,  and  Jeremy  Taylor,  and  Tillotson,  and  Bates,  and 
Bishop  Hall,  and  Samuel  Clarke,  and  Warburton,  and  Bull, 
and  Waterland,  and  Bentley,  and  Bayle,  and  Ray,  and  Der- 
ham,  and  a  score  of  other  philosophers  and  divines,  mingled 
with  Stanley's  'History  of  Philosophers,7  and  its  large  full- 
length  portraits  ;  Ogilvy's  '  Embassies  to  Japan  and  China,' 
with  their  large  curious  engravings  ;  Speed's  and  Rapin's  folio 
Histories  of  England,  Collier's  *  Church  History,'  Fuller's 
'  Holy  War,'  Foxe's  '  Book  of  Martyrs,'  the  first  edition,  in 
black  letter,  with  its  odd  rude  plates,  and  countless  other  curi- 
osities and  valuables." 

Cooper  now  settled  to  reading  in  desperate  earnest,  and  with 
something  like  a  fixed  purpose  to  become  a  scholar,  and  per- 
haps a  writer,  or  a  great  political  or  religious  orator,  or,  more 
probable  than  all  things  else — for  the  poetic  fervor  was  very 
strong  just  now — a  poet !  Yet  he  had  no  very  definite  notions 
of  what  he  was  to  be.  All  he  was  certain  about  was  that  he 
must  and  would  study,  and  fit  himself  for  some  higher  walk  in 
life  when  the  time  came  to  enter  on  it.  Let  the  reader  keep 
this  fact  in  mind  while  reading  the  story  we  have  to  tell  of  close 
application  to  study,  lofty  aspirations,  and  great  attainments  as 
a  scholar.  Thomas  Cooper  during  his  shoemaker's  life,  in 
which  he  laid  the  foundation  of  rare  scholarship,  never  earned 
more  than  ten  shillings  a  week — scarcely  enough  to  buy  food 
and  clothes.  He  had  not  become  an  apprentice,  and  therefore 
the  laws  of  the  trade  prevented  the  best  masters  employing 
him.  One  4<  Widow  Hoyle,  who  sold  her  goods  in  the  market 
cheap,"  was  his  only  employer,  so  long  as  he  remained  at  the 
trade.  If  he  was  not,  in  these  days  of  lowly  toil  and  lofty 
thoughts, 

"  Checked  by  the  scoff  of  Pride,  by  Envy's  frown," 
he  well  knew  what  it  was  to  feel  the  restraint  of 
"  Poverty's  unconquerable  bar." 

Yet  he  had  courage,  an  indispensable  quality  in  a  youth  so 
situated,  and  it  was  the  courage  that  "  mounteth  with  the  occa- 
sion," and  all  these  bars  to  self -culture  only  acted  as  a  stimulus 
to  more  resolute  toil.  Strange  to  say,  one  of  his  greatest  in- 
centives to  study  at  this  time  was  an  account  of  the  life  of  Dr. 
Samuel  Lee,  Professor  of  Hebrew  in  the  University  of  Cam- 


THOMAS   COOPER.  173 

bridge,  which  the  young  student  had  read  in  the  Imperial 
Magazine,  then  edited  by  another  of  our  illustrious  shoe- 
makers, Samuel  Drew.  Lee  had  been  a  carpenter,  ignorant  of 
English  grammar,  had  bought  Ruddiman's  Latin  Rudiments, 
and  having  mastered  the  book,  had  learned  to  read  Caesar  and 
Virgil,  and  had  taught  himself  Greek,  Hebrew,  and  Syriac  by 
the  time  he  was  six-and-twenty  years  of-  age  !  Cooper  said 
within  himself,  "  If  one  man  can  teach  himself  a  language, 
another  can."  So  he  went  to  work,  following  in  Lee's  steps 
so  far  as  to  take  Ruddirnan's  book  an/d  commit  "the  entire 
volume  to  memory — notes  and  all  !"  Then  came  the  study  of 
Hebrew  with  the  help  of  Lyon's  small  grammar,  bought  for  a 
shilling  at  an  old  bookstall  ;  and  a  year  after  he  was  busy  at 
Greek,  and  created  for  himself  a  pleasing  diversion  by  the 
comparatively  easy  task  of  mastering  French.  All  this  time 
his  general  reading  was  not  neglected.  By  the  advice  of  a  val- 
ued friend,  John  Hough,  he  fortified  his  mind  against  the  scep- 
tical thoughts  which  previous  reading  had  awakened  by  going 
carefully  through  the  chief  works  on  Christian  evidences.  Few 
divinity  students  at  the  end  of  their  course  have  read  more 
carefully  or  extensively  than  this  occupant  of  a  cobbler's  stall 
had  done  by  the  time  he  was  twenty -three  years  old.  Paley's 
"Horse  Paulime,"  "  Natural  Theology,''  and  "Evidences," 
Bishop  Watson's  "  Apologies,'.'  Soame  Jenyns'  "  Internal  Evi- 
dences," Lord  Lyttleton's  "Conversion  of  St.  Paul,"  Sher- 
lock's "  Trial  of  the  Witnesses,"  besides  profounder  works  like 
Butler's  "Analogy,"  Bentley's  "Folly  of  Atheism,"  Dr. 
Samuel  Clarke's  "Being  and  Attributes  of  God,"  Stilling- 
fleet's  "  Origines  Sacrae,"  and  Warburton's  "  Divine  Legation 
of  Moses,"  were  as  familiar  to  him  as  the  "  Paradise  Lost" 
and  most  of  the  plays  of  Shakespeare  were  to  his  companion 
Thomas  Miller.*  The  labors  of  this  period,  from  1824  to 
1828,  were  tremendous,  or,  as  one  of  Sir  Walter  Scott's  char- 
acters was  wont  to  say,  "  prodigious."  Cooper  had  left  Don 
Cundell's,  and  now  worked  at  home,  so  that  he  could  arrange 
his  time  for  study  and  work  as  he  pleased.  Like  Drew,  he  had 
learned  to  do  a  fair  day's  work  and  not  to  neglect  the  means  of 
earning  his  daily  bread  for  the  more  fascinating  occupations  of 
reading  and  study.  But  if  ordinary  work  was  not  neglected, 
it  must  be  confessed  that  the  work  of  the  scholar  was  over- 

*  Thomas  Miller,  afterward  known  as  a  poet  and  novelist,  and  for 
his  charming  descriptions  of  rural  scenery,  was  an  intimate  friend  of 
Cooper  from  childhood  to  old  age. 


174  ILLUSTWOUS   SHOKMAKERS. 

done.  No  one  can  live  as  Cooper  lived  from  the  age  of  nine- 
teen to  twenty-three  without  incurring  fearful  risk  to  body  and 
mind.  Rising  at  three,  or  four  at  the  latest,  he  read  history, 
or  the  grammar  of  some  language,  or  engaged  in  translation  till 
seven,  when  he  sat  down  to  his  stall.  At  meal-times  he  at- 
tempted the  double  task  of  taking  in  food  for  the  body  and  the 
mind  at  the  same  time,  cutting  up  his  food  and  eating  it  with  a 
spoon  that  he  might  not  have  occasion  to  take  his  eyes  off  the 
book  he  held  in  his  hand  ;  at  work  till  eight  or  nine,  he  was  all 
the  while  committing  to  memory  and  reciting  aloud  passages 
from  the  poets,  or  declensions  and  conjugations,  or  rules  of 
syntax  ;  and  when  he  rose  from  his  stool,  it  was  only  to  pace 
the  room,  while  he  still  went  on  with  his  studies,  until  at  last 
he  dropped  into  bed  utterly  exhausted.  This  was  his  method 
in  spring  and  summer,  but  even  in  winter  his  hours  were  just  as 
long,  and  study  in  the  early  morning  was  not  accompanied  by 
the  invigorating  influence  of  walking  exercise  and  fresh  air  ; 
for  he  says,  "  When  in  the  coldness  of  winter  we  could  not 
afford  to  have  a  fire  till  my  mother  rose,  I  used  to  put  a  lamp 
on  a  stool,  which  I  placed  on  a  little  round  table,  and  standing 
before  it  wrapped  up  in  my  mother's  old  red  cloak,  I  read  on 
till  seven,  or  studied  a  grammar  or  my  Euclid,  and  frequently 
kept  my  feet  moving  to  secure  warmth  or  prevent  myself  from 
falling  asleep."  *  In  this  way  Latin  was  so  far  mastered  that 
Caesar's  "  De  Bello  Gallico"  could  be  read  "  page  after  page 
with  scarcely  more  than  a  glance  at  the  dictionary/'  and  the 
"  Eneid  "  of  Virgil  became  an  intellectual  love  that  lasted  for 
life.  We  have  no  space  to  describe  the  vast  amount  of  histori- 
cal and  miscellaneous  reading  done  at  this  time.  It  was  surely 
no  small  feat  for  a  shoemaker,  working  hard  for  twelve  or  thir- 
teen hours  in  the  day,  to  go  in  a  few  years  through  Gibbon's 
44  Decline  and  Fall/'  Sale's  "  Preliminary  Discourse  to  his 
Translation  of  the  Koran,"  Mosheim's  "  Church  History,"  all 
the  principal  English  poets  from  Shakespeare  to  Scott  and 
Keats  ;  to  read  the  "  Curiosities  of  Literature,"  "  Calamities" 
and  "  Quarrels  of  Authors,"  Wharton's  "  History  of  Poetry" 
and  Johnson's  "  Lives  of  the  Poets,"  Boswell's  "  Life  of  John- 
son" and  Lander's  "  Imaginary  Conversations,"  Southey's 
"  Book  of  the  Church,"  and  Lingard's  "  Anglo-Saxon  Antiqui- 
ties," besides  a  host  of  books  of  travel,  and  quarterly  and 
monthly  magazines  innumerable. 

*  "  Life  of  Thomas  Cooper,"  pp.  60,  61. 


THOMAS    COOPER.  175 

We  have  said  that  Cooper  overdid  the  work  of  study.  Like 
Kirke- White,  he  was  so  completely  absorbed  with  the  passion 
for  learning,  that  he  set  all  the  laws  of  health  at  defiance,  and 
"  had  to  pay  the  penalty.  Having  a  stronger  constitution  than 
the  Nottingham  youth,  Cooper  managed  to  escape  with  his  life, 
and,  after  a  period  of  bodily  and  mental  prostration,  with  all 
his  old  vigor  restored  to  him  ;  but  it  was  a  narrow  escape. 
These  excessive  labors,  coupled  with  the  effects  of  scanty  fare, 
brought  him  to  a  state  of  extreme  weakness.  He  says,  "  I  not 
unfrequently  swooned  away  and  fell  all  along  the  floor  when  I 
tried  to  take  my  cup  of  oatmeal  gruel  at  the  end  of  my  day's 
labor.  Next  morning,  of  course,  I  was  not  able  to  rise  at  an 
early  hour  ;  and  then  very  likely  the  next  day's  study  had  to 
be  stinted.  I  needed  better  food  than  we  could  afford  to  buy, 
and  often  had  to  contend  with  the  sense  of  faintness,  while  I 
still  plodded  on  with  my  double  task  of  mind  and  body.77  * 
At  length,  after  many  premonitory  symptoms,  came  a  crisis. 
One  night  he  had  to  be  carried  to  bed  in  a  dead  faint,  and  for 
nine  weeks  he  left  his  bed  but  for  a  short  time  each  day.  The 
greatest  fears  were  felt  for  his  safety  ;  the  doctor  had  little 
hope,  and  once  he  was  so  prostrate,  that  a  friend  who  was 
called  in  sadly  told  his  mother  that  the  pulse  had  ceased  to 
beat,  and  he  was  dead !  This  was  at  the  end  of  1827  ;  by  the 
spring  of  the  following  year  he  had  recovered  sufficiently  to 
begin  to  think  of  going  to  work  again.  A  brief  spell  at  his  old 
occupation  was  enough  to  satisfy  him  that  it  would  not  suit 
him  in  his  altered  state  of  health  ;  and,  after  a  short  rest  and 
more  complete  recovery,  he  took  the  welcome  advice  of  two 
friends  and  agreed  to  open  a  school.  He  had  now  done  forever 
with  the  trade  of  a  shoemaker,  after  giving  to  it  eight  years  of 
the  best  part  of  his  early  life.  'These  he  confesses  to  have 
been,  on  the  whole,  most  happy  years,  and  of  the  last  four  he 
says  with  enthusiasm,  *'  What  glorious  years  were  those  years 
of  self -denial  and  earnest  mental  toil,  from  the  age  of  nearly 
nineteen  to  nearly  three-and-twenty,  that  I  sat  and  worked  in 
that  corner  of  my  poor  mother's  lowly  home  !"  He  had  cer- 
tainly made  wondrous  progress  as  a  self-taught  scholar,  and 
now  he  was  prepared  to  enter  the  world  and  make  his  own  way 
in  it,  with  such  a  stock  of  learning  and  culture  as  few  young 
men  in  England,  in  his  position,  could  boast  of.  We  scarcely 
dare  venture  to  estimate  his  acquirements  at  this  time.  The 

*  "Life  of  Thomas  Cooper,"  p.  67. 


176  ILLUSTRIOUS    SHOEMAKKKS. 

reader  can  easily  judge  from  our  account  of  his  studies  how 
considerable  they  must  have  been.  In  English  literature,  from 
Spenser  and  Shakespeare  to  the  essayists  and  poets,  such  as 
De  Quincey,  Hazlitt,  and  Charles  Lamb,  or  Byron,  Campbell, 
and  Moore,  he  was  well  versed.  He  had  read  extensively  in 
history,  philosophy,  theology,  and  Christian  evidences.  As  to 
mathematics,  he  had  gone  pretty  deeply  into  algebra  and 
geometry  ;  and  in  the  languages,  besides  his  "  easy0  French, 
he  had  done  something  in  Hebrew,  could  read  his  Greek  Testa- 
ment, and  found  delight  in  the  Latin  authors,  such  as  Ca3sar, 
Virgil,  Tacitus,  and  Lactantius.  This  is  no  mean  story  to  tell 
of  the  accomplishments  of  a  self-taught  shoemaker,  who  has 
never  earned  more  than  ten  shillings  per  week. 

School-teaching  was  a  congenial  employment  for  one  so  fond 
of  study  and  so  apt  to  teach  as  Thomas  Cooper.  He  threw  his 
whole  soul  into  the  work,  and  succeeded  in  establishing  a  first- 
rate  school  of  its  class  ;  and  that  class  of  school  was  certainly  a 
vast  improvement  on  the  Free  School  of  his  own  early  days. 
Everybody  in  Gainsborough  knew  the  studious  shoemaker  who 
had  learned  four  languages  at  the  cobbler's  stall,  read  as  much, 
or  more,  than  any  one  in  the  town  of  his  own  nge,  had  a  marvel- 
lous memory,  and  could  repeat  the  whole  of  Hamlet  and  the 
first  four  books  of  the  "  Paradise  Lost  !"  Besides  all  this,  he 
was  known  and  esteemed  for  a  steady  young  man,  who,  though 
he  might  incur  a  little  suspicion  among  the  strictly  religious 
folk  by  his  neglect  of  public  worship,  was  guilty  of  no  waste  of 
time  or  money  in  vicious  company  and  riotous  living.  And  so 
pupils  flocked  in  ;  a  hundred  names  were  entered  on  his  books 
by  the  end  of  the  first  year,  and  the  school  prospered  to  his 
heart's  content.  Nor  was  the  confidence  of  parents  misplaced  ; 
never,  surely,  did  a  teacher  give  himself  more  completely  to  his 
work.  He  gave  even  more  than  was  bargained  for,  drilling  all 
the  boys  in  Latin  grammar,  and  carrying  them  on  as  far  as  pos- 
sible in  the  higher  branches  of  arithmetic.  Five  years  were 
thus  spent  most  usefully  and  happily  at  Gainsborough,  after 
which  he  removed  from  the  old  town  and  settled  in  the  cathe- 
dral city  of  Lincoln. 

But  before  quitting  Gainsborough  a  vital  change  had  taken 
place  in  his  thoughts  and  mode  of  life.  Brought  face  to  face 
with  death  in  his  recent  illness,  the  most  serious  thoughts  had 
been  aroused  within  his  mind,  and  on  his  recovery  he  was  not 
the  man  to  abandon  or  drown  such  thoughts  because  the  imme- 
diate fear  of  death  had  passed  away.  The  earnest  conversations 


THOMAS    COOPER.  17? 

he  held  with  the  young  curate  of  the  parish,  "  the  pious  and 
laborious  Charles  Hensley,"  and  his  two  former  friends,  Hough 
and  Kelvey,  strengthened  his  resolve  to  seek  for  peace  of  mind 
in  the  belief  of  gospel  truth  and  entire  devotion  to  a  religious 
life.  In  January,  1829,  he  joined  the  Methodist  Society.  The 
perusal  of  Sigston's  "  Life  of  William  Bramwell  "  fired  his 
soul  with  a  passion  for  holiness,  and  such  was  his  intensity  of 
religious  fervor  for  a  time,  that  he  is  constrained  to  say  in  his 
Autobiography  :  "  If  throughout  eternity  in^heaven  I  be  as 
happy  as  I  often  was  for  whole  days  during  that  short  period 
of  my  religious  life,  it  will  be  heaven  indeed.  Often  for  sev- 
eral days  together  I  felt  close  to  the  Almighty — felt  I  was  His 
own  and  His  entirely.  I  felt  no  wandering  of  the  will  and  in- 
clination to  yield  to  sin  ;  and  when  temptation  came,  my 
whole  soul  wrestled  for  victory  till  the  temptation  fled.0  En- 
tered on  the  local  preachers'  plan,  he  turned  his  rare  gifts  to 
good  account  in  ministering  to  the  congregations  which  formed 
the  Gainsborough  "  circuit,"  and  developed  that  faculty  of  elo- 
quent speech  which  in  later  years  has  delighted  the  thousands 
who  gathered  to  hear  his  political  orations  as  an  advocate  of  the 
"  People's  Charter"  or  his  grand  lectures  on  the  evidences  of 
the  Christian  religion.  Driven  away  from  his  old  home  by 
unhappy  disturbances  in  the  Wesley  an  Society,  he  went,  as  we 
have  said,  in  November,  1833,  to  live  at  Lincoln,  where  once 
more  he  occupied  himself  as  a  schoolmaster. 

Just  before  leaving  Gainsborough  he  was  constrained  to 
gather  a  few  pieces  of  his  poetry  together  and  publish  them  by 
subscription  in  a  small  volume,  with  the  title,  taken  from  the 
first  piece,  "  The  Wesleyan  Chiefs."  The  book  fell  flat  on 
the  market,  and  seems  to  have  had  very  little  merit.  Its  pub- 
lication was  chiefly  remarkable  for  bringing  the  author  into  the 
company  of  James  Montgomery,  who  kindly  undertook  to  read 
the  proof  sheets.  Only  one  of  these  selections  seems  to  have 
called  forth  a  word  of  commendation  from  the  veteran  poet. 
Against  the  lines  addressed  to  "  Lincoln  Cathedral  "  he  wrote  : 
"  These  are  very  noble  lines,  and  the  versification  is  truly  worthy 
of  them. ' '  *  Montgomery  was  then  over  sixty  years  of  age,  and 
had  published  all  the  poems  by  which  his  name  is  known  to  fame. 

Soon  after  going  to  reside  in  Lincoln,  Cooper  married  Miss 
Jobson,  sister  of  Frederic  James  Jobson,  afterward  well  known 
as  Dr.  Jobson  among  the  Wesleyan  Methodists,  and  at  one  time 

*  These  lines  stand  first  among  the  minor  pieces  in  "Cooper's 
Poetical  Works."  London  :  Hodder  &  Stoughton,  1877. 


178  ILLUSTRIOUS   SHOEMAKERS. 

their  honored  President  of  the  Conference.  The  religious 
troubles  at  Gainsborough  followed  the  local  preacher  to  Lincoln, 
for  the  superintendent  with  whom  he  had  disagreed  at  the 
former  place  would  not  suffer  him  to  rest  in  his  new  home  ; 
and  at  length,  soured  and  wearied  by  what  he  could  not  but 
deem  ill-usage,  he  threw  up  his  appointment  on  the  plan,  and 
finally  cut  himself  off  from  the  Methodist  connection.  Free  to 
devote  his  energies  to  other  pursuits,  he  now  flung  himself  very 
zealously  into  the  new  Mechanics'  Institute  movement,  took  a 
class  in  Latin,  sought  to  perfect  Limself  in  French  pronuncia- 
tion, and  to  acquire  a  knowledge  of  Italian  under  the  tutorship 
of  Signor  D'Albrione,  "  a  very  noble-looking  Italian  gentleman, 
a  native  of  Turin,  who  had  been  a  cavalry  officer  in  the  armies 
of  Napoleon,  had  endured  the  retreat  from  Moscow,  was  at  the 
defeat  of  Leipzig,"  etc.,  and  had  become  "  a  refugee  in  Eng- 
land on  account  of  his  participation  in  the  conspiracy  of  the 
Carbonari. "  German,  also,  was  studied  for  a  time  ;  but  very 
soon  a  new  attraction  arose  in  the  formation  of  a  Choral  Society, 
of  which  the  zealous  schoolmaster  became  the  secretary  and 
chief  manager,  collecting  its  funds,  enlisting  by  his  persuasive 
powers  the  best  singers  in  the  city,  and  arranging  for  its  meet- 
ings and  public  performances.  His  attendance  at  the  lectures 
of  the  Institute  incidentally  led  to  a  new  employment,  in  which 
undoubtedly  Thomas  Cooper  might  have  excelled  and  gained 
no  mean  emolument  and  renown  had  he  chosen  to  devote  him- 
self exclusively  to  it.  Having  sent  a  paragraph  report  of  one 
of  the  lectures  on  chemistry  to  the  Lincoln,  Rutland,  and 
Stamford  Mercury,  he  was  waited  upon  by  the  editor,  Richard 
Newcomb,  and  requested  to  supply  intelligence  weekly  of  any 
affairs  of  importance  in  the  city,  and  promised  £20  a  year  for 
his  trouble.  This  was  in  1834.  In  two  years  he  gave  up  his 
connection  with  the  Choral  Society,  cultivated  the  newspaper 
correspondent  business  to  such  an  extent  that  he  was  advanced 
to  £100  per  year,  and  so  gave  up  his  school.  Having  put  his 
hand  to  the  work  of  newspaper  correspondence,  he  did  not  do 
it  by  halves.  He  exposed  the  abuses,  as  he  deemed  them,  then 
rife  in  the  city,  wrote  sketches  of  the  "  Lincoln  Preachers, " 
and  created  such  a  stir  by  his  lively  and  racy  articles  on  munici- 
pal and  political  matters,  that  the  paper  rapidly  rose  in  circula- 
tion, and  he  found  himself  for  a  time  the  most  notorious  man 
in  the  city,  feared  by  many,  hated  by  not  a  few,  and  courted 
by  those  who  had  favors  to  win  or  help  to  secure  from  the 
lively  correspondent. 


THOMAS    COOPER.  179 

In  1838,  at  the  urgent 'request  of  Mr.  Newcomb,  he  removed 
to  Stamford,  under  a  verbal  promise  that  when  the  editor 
retired,  which  he  intimated  would  be  very  soon,  Cooper  should 
have  the  sole  management.  After  remaining  for  a  few  months 
in  the  position  of  clerk  to  Mr.  Newcoinb,  and  finding  to  his 
chagrin  that  the  old  editor  gave  no  sign  of  keeping  to  his  agree- 
ment, he  very  rashly  threw  down  his  pen  and  gave  notice  to 
leave.  A  little  patience  might  have  sufficed  to  gain  his  end, 
but  his  mortification  was  extreme,  and  so  a  good  situation, 
worth,  in  all,  £300  a  year,  was  sacrificed.  "  On  the  1st  of 
June,  1839,"  he  writes,  "  we  got  on  the  stage-coach,  with 
our  boxes  of  books,  at  Stamford,  and  away  I  went  to  make  my 
first  venture  in  London." 

The  six  years  spent  at  Lincoln  had  been  a  time  of  literary 
activity  in  more  ways  than  that  of  newspaper  correspondence. 
Many  minor  pieces,  such  as  are  found  at  the  end  of  the  col- 
lected poems,  were  written,  and  the  title  and  plan  of  his  best 
poetical  work,  "  The  Purgatory  of  Suicides,"  was  decided 
upon.  But  he  had  done  more  in  the  way  of  prose.  The  first 
volume  of  a  historical  romance  was  finished  ere  he  left  Lincoln, 
and  now  that  he  had  come  to  London,  he  hoped  to  make  his 
way  with  this  as  an  introduction  to  the  publishers  and  the  read- 
ing world.  But  he  very  soon  discovered,  as  thousands  besides 
have  done,  that  he  had  little  to  hope  from  patrons,  even  though, 
like  Sir  Edward  Lytton  Bulwer,  they  might  be  men  to  whom 
he  had  rendered  some  political  service  in  days  gone  by,  and 
that  his  unlucky  manuscript  was  a  poor  broken  reed  to  lean 
upon.  After  nine  months'  bitter  experience  of  fruitless  at- 
tempts to  find  employment,  and  when  all  his  stock  of  five  hun- 
dred books,  the  dear  companions  of  the  last  ten  years  of  earnest 
study,  had  been  sold,  and  even  his  father's  old  silver  watch  and 
articles  of  clothing  had  been  carried  to  the  pawnshop,  he  was 
fortunate  enough  to  make  an  engagement,  at  £3  per  week,  as 
editor  of  the  Kentish  Mercury,  Gravesend  Journal ,  and  Green- 
wick  Gazette,  of  which  Mr.  William  Dougal  Christie  was  the 
proprietor.  He  had  held  this  office  but  a  short  time  when  dis- 
agreement as  to  the  management  of  the  paper  led  him  to  give 
notice  of  retirement  from  his  awkward  position.  Strangely 
enough,  at  this  very  juncture  a  letter  reached  him  from  a  friend 
in  Lincoln  enclosing  another  from  the  manager  of  a  paper  in 
Leicester,  asking  to  be  informed  of  "  the  whereabouts  of 
Thomas  Cooper,  who  wrote  the  articles  entitled  *  Lincoln 
Preachers'  in  the  Stamford  Mercury."  Dropping  the  letter, 


180  ILLUSTRIOUS   SHOEMAKERS. 

he  exclaimed  to  his  wife,  u  The  message  has  come  at  last — the 
message  of  Destiny  !  We  are  going  to  live  at  Leicester/'  thus 
expressing  a  thought  he  had  secretly  cherished  for  years,  "  that 
he  had  something  to  do  of  a  stirring  and  important  nature  at 
Leicester. "  And  so  it  proved,  but  that  "  something77  was 
very  different  from  what  he  had  ever  anticipated.  Answering 
the  inquiry  in  person,  he  agreed  with  the  manager  of  the  Lei- 
cestershire Mercury  to  accept  a  reporter's  place  at  a  small  remu- 
neration, and  in  November,  1840,  he  went  to  reside  in  his 
native  town  and  prepare  himself  for  his  *'  destiny."  In  Lon- 
don he  had  met  with  his  old  friend  Thomas  Miller,  who  was 
then  writing  "  Lady  Jane  Grey  ;"  and  here  at  Leicester  he  dis- 
covered another  Gainsborough  youth,  Joseph  Winks,  who  had 
been  his  companion  and  rival  in  the  Improvement  Society,  and 
was  now  **  a  printer  and  bookseller,  a  busy  politician,  Baptist 
preacher,  and  editor  of  three  or  four  small  religious  periodi- 
cals." * 

Sent  one  night  by  the  manager  of  the  Mercury  to  attend  and 
report  a  Chartist  lecture,  he  was  introduced  for  the  first  time 
to  those  poor  but  desperately  earnest  politicians  who  were  at 
that  time  making  their  pathetic  and  passionate  voices  heard 
throughout  the  Midland  and  Northern  Counties.  From  that 
night  Thomas  Cooper  was  a  Chartist  ;  and  for  the  next  three 
years  his  best  powers  were  devoted  to  the  cause  of  the  suffering 
operatives  and  his  life-interests  bound  up  in  the  Chartist  move- 
ment. Nothing  could  be  more  pitiable  than  the  condition  of 
the  Leicester  "  stockingers"  at  this  time.  The  average  weekly 
wages  of  a  man  who  worked  hard  were  four-and-sixpence  ! 
Ground  down  to  the  point  of  starvation  by  "  frame-rent,"  pay- 
ment for  "  standing,"  for  u  giving-out, "  and  for  the  "  seamer," 
and,  worst  of  all,  obliged  to  pay  the  full  week's  rent  when 
working  on  half-time,  it  is  no  wonder  that  his  spirit  was  galled 
to  madness,  and  that  he  looked  to  something  like  a  political 
revolution  for  a  redress  of  his  wrongs.  Lord  Byron,  in  the 
only  speech  he  ever  delivered  in  the  House  of  Lords,  had  spo- 
ken eloquently  and  generously  in  behalf  of  these  suffering  op- 
eratives of  the  Midland  Counties. 

One  cannot  wonder  that  a  man  like  Cooper,  who  had  known 
the  pinchings  of  poverty,  should  have  felt  his  soul  stirred 

"The  Children's  Magazine  (next  to  the  Teacher's  Offering  the  first 
magazine  for  children  published  in  this  country),  the  Christian 
Pioneer,  the  Child's  Magazine.  He  was  also  editor  of .  the  Baptist 
Reporter  for  many  years. 


THOMAS    COOPER.  181 

within  him.  His  sympathies  and  views  soon  drew  him  into 
writing  and  speaking  for  the  Chartists.  This  was  an  offence  in 
the  eyes  of  his  employers  of  the  Mercury,  and  led  to  his  sever- 
ance from  them.  He  now,  at  the  request  of  the  factory  hands 
of  Leicester,  became  their  political  leader,  and  the  editor  of 
their  paper,  the  Midland  Counties  Illuminator,  which  fell  into 
his  own  hands  after  a  few  weeks,  and  was  changed  in  style  and 
title,  and  made  a  new  appearance  as  the  Chartist  Rushlight,  and 
afterward  as  the  Extinguisher.  Ti^,  the  midst  of  the  dispute 
between  Whigs  and  Tories,  Cooper  was  "  nominated  "  by  the 
Chartists  as  their  candidate,  hot  with  any  hope  of  being  carried 
at  the  poll,  but  rather  as  a  means  of  spiting  the  Whigs,  against 
whom  the  working-men  were  intensely  bitter,  on  account  of 
their  unwillingness  to  support  "  The  People's  Charter."  En- 
deavoring to  turn  his  leadership  of  the  Chartists  to  some  ac- 
count apart  from  politics,  he  added  to  the  task  of  regular  ad- 
dresses in  the  open  air  the  conduct  of  a  Sunday  adult  school 
and  Sunday-evening  meetings  ;  and,  when  the  winter  came  on, 
gathered  his  friends  together,  and  sought  to  lift  their  thoughts 
above  their  daily  care,  and  awaken  in  their  minds  a  desire  for 
reading,  by  a  course  of  lectures  on  literature  and  science.  But 
the  bad  times  of  1842  put  a  stop  to  all  this.  The  condition  of 
the  stockingers  grew  worse  and  worse,  and  Cooper  took  to  sup- 
plying bread  on  sale  or  lortn,  to  meet  the  wants  of  the  poor 
starving  creatures,  and  ran  into  debt  by  so  doing.  The  poor- 
house,  or  Bastile,  as  the  working-men  always  called  it,  was 
crowded  to  excess,  and  riots  broke  out  now  and  again  ;  but 
with  these  neither  Cooper  nor  the  Chartist  Association  had  any- 
thing to  do.  In  August  of  the  same  year  he  was  appointed  by 
this  body  as  a  delegate  to  the  Chartists'  Convention  at  Manches- 
ter. On  the  way  thither  he  lectured  or  spoke  in  the  open  air 
at  Birmingham,  Wednesbury,  Bilston,  \Volverhampton,  and  at 
length  came  to  Hanley,  where  he  addressed  a  vast  crowd  of 
men  at  "  the  Crown  Bank."  His  subject  was  the  sixth  com- 
mandment, li  Thou  shalt  do  no  murder,"  in  which  he  spoke  of 
the  violations  of  this  law  by  conquerors  and  legislators,  and  by 
masters  who  oppressed  the  hireling  in  his  wages.  The  men 
were  now  out  on  strike,  and  the  excitement  produced  by  this 
and  another  address  on  the  following  night  was  intense.  He 
counselled  perpetually  "  peace,  law,  and  order,"  and  bade  the 
men  hold  out  in  their  strike  until  the  People's  Charter  became 
the  law  of  the  land.  Riot  and  incendiarism  broke  out  in  a 
short  time,  for  which  Cooper  was  in  no  way  directly  rcsponsi- 


182  ILLUSTRIOUS   SHOEMAKERS. 

blc,  but  had,  on  the  other  hand,  distinctly  endeavored  to  dis- 
suade them  from.  lie  was  taken  prisoner  on  his  return  from 
Manchester,  and  having  been  tried  for  the  crime  of  arson,  was 
acquitted,  having  pleaded  his  own  case  so  eloquently  that  the 
judge  was  evidently  affected,  and  the  ladies  present  at  the  trial 
were  even  moved  to  tears.  Tried  again  at  the  Spring  Assizes  on 
the  charge  of  sedition,  he  cross-examined  the  witnesses  from 
Monday  to  Saturday  at  noon,  and  then  proceeded  to  sum  up 
his  defence  in  a  speech  which  altogether  (Sunday  intervening) 
lasted  ten  hours.  '4  I  do  not  think,"  he  rcmaiks,  "  I  ever 
spoke  so  powerfully  in  my  life  as  during  the  last  hour  of  that 
defence.  The  peroration,  the  Stafford  papers  said,  would 
never  be  forgotten  ;  and  T  remember  as  I  sat  down,  panting  for 
breath  and  utterly  exhausted,  how  Talfourd  and  Erskine  and 
the  jury  sat  transfixed,  gazing  at  me  in  silence,  and  the  whole 
crowded  place  was  breathless,  as  it  seemed,  for  a  minute.'7 
The  case  being  removed  by  a  "  writ  of  cvrtinruri  to  the  Court 
of  Queen's  Bench,  was  tried  on  the  5th  of  May,  1843.  In  his 
defence  Thomas  Cooper  again  delivered  an  eloquent  speech, 
five  and  a  half  hours  long,  and  was  again  acquitted  of  the 
charge  of  felony.  Judge  Erskine's  notes  of  the  trial  had 
"  mistake"  written  alongside  the  evidence  on  that  part  of  the 
charge.  But  the  eloquent  Chartist  orator  was  convicted  on  the 
charge  of  sedition  and  conspiracy,  and  sent  to  Stafford  jail  for 
two  years. 

There  are  few  chapters  in  the  Autobiography  so  full  of  in- 
terest and  so  graphically  written  as  those  which  describe 
Thomas  Cooper's  prison  experience.  Galled  to  the  quick  by 
the  treatment  he  received — for  he  was  kept  on  low,  miserable 
fare  and  denied  "  literary  privileges" — he  determined  to  break 
down  "  the  system  of  restraint  in  Stafford  jail,  and  win  the. 
privilege  of  reading  and  writing,  or  die  in  the  attempt."  After 
many  manoeuvres  he  managed  to  get  pen,  ink,  and  paper,  and 
write  a  petition  to  the  House  of  Commons,  which  was  handed 
in  at  the  bar  of  the  House  by  Mr.  Duncombe,  M.P.  for  Fins- 
bury.  All  that  he  could  reasonably  expect  was  now  granted 
in  answer  to  his  appeal,  and  the  remainder  of  his  time  was  tilled 
up  with  literary  work.  He  revelled  in  the  English  poets  from 
Shakespeare  to  Shelley;  read  again  the  "  Decline  and  Fall," 
Prideaux's  "  Connexion,"  White's  "  Selborne,"  etc.,  etc.  ; 
fell  passionately  in  love  with  the  study  of  Hebrew,  and  almost 
raved  about  the  glories  of  the  sacred  language  of  the  Old  Testa- 
ment ;  and  read  two  thirds  of  the  Hebrew  Bible,  copying  out 


THOMAS    COOPER.  183 

verbs  and  nouns  as  he  went  along.  One  day  he  was  visited  by 
Lord  Sandon,  afterward  Earl  of  Harrowby,  who  fell  into  con- 
versation with  the  learned  prisoner  about  the  poetical  books  of 
the  Bible  in  the  old  German  edition  which  lay  open  before  him 
on  the  table.  A  short  time  before  his  release  the  chaplain  told 
him  that  the  way  was  open  for  him  to  go  to  Cambridge  if  he 
would  ;  but  the  conditions  were  such  as  did  *not  suit  the  inde- 
pendent mind  of  the  political  martyr.  Cooper  had  a  shrewd 
suspicion  that  the  visit  of  the  nobleman  had  some  connection 
with  this  generous  offer. 

Cooper's  best  work  in  Stafford  jail  was  the  composition  of 
the  well-known  poem,  "  The  Purgatory  of  Suicides."  This 
poem,  he  tells  us,  was  the  working  out  of  a  thought  which  oc- 
curred to  him  ten  years  before,  when  he  was  sitting  as  a  report- 
er in  the  assize  court  at  Lincoln.  The  historical  romance,  the 
first  part  of  which  he  had  carried  to  London  in  1839,  was  also 
completed  during  his  imprisonment,  and  he  wrote  during  the 
same  period  a  volume  of  tales,  afterward  published  under  the 
title,  "  Wise  Saws  and  Modern  Instances."  "  These,''  he 
says,  "  I  took  out  of  prison  with  me  as  my  keys  for  unlocking 
the  gates  of  fortune." 

On  his  liberation,  May  4th,  1845,  he  went  up  to  London, 
shedding  tears  of  gladness  aqd  gratitude  on  the  way  as  he 
looked  once  more  on  the  green  fields  and  hedgerows  of  the 
Midland  Counties.  His  first  care  was  to  find  a  publisher  for  his 
prison  rhyme  and  tales.  As  soon  as  he  was  able  he  sought  out 
Mr.  Duncombe,  to  thank  him  for  his  generous  help  in  the  mat- 
ter of  the  petition  t:>  the  House  of  Commons,  and  to  ask  for 
counsel  in  seeking  a  publisher.  Duncombe  sent  him  to  Mr. 
D' Israeli,  with  the  following  note  : 

"  MY  DEAR  DISRAELI, — I  send  you  Mr.  Cooper,  a  Chartist, 
red-hot  from  Stafford  jail.  But  don't  be  frightened  ;  he  wont' 
bite  you.  He  has  written  a  poem  and  a  romance,  and  thinks 
he  can  cut  out  '  Coningsby  '  and  '  Sybil.'  Help  him  if  you 
can,  and  oblige  yours,  T.  S.  DUNCOMBE." 

It  is  gratifying  to  read  of  the  kindness  with  which  the  shrewd 
statesman,  then  a  Tory  of  the  Tories,  received  the  4C  red-hot 
radical."  4t  I  wish  I  had  seen  you  before  I  finished  my  last 
novel,"  said  he  ;  "  my  heroine  Sybil  is  a  Chartist."  With  the 
kindly  help  of  Douglas  Jerroldthe  44  Purgatory  "  was  at  length 
published  by  Jeremiah  How,  Fleet  Street,  who  undertook  to 
bear  the  cost  and  risk  of  printing.  It  came  out  in  September, 


184  ILLUSTRIOUS   SHOEMAKKKS. 

1845,  and  the  five  hundred  copies  of  the  first  edition  were  sold 
off  before  Christmas.  Cooper  now  began  to  write  for  Douglas 
Jerrold's  "  Shilling  Magazine."  The  volume  of  talcs  called 
"  Wise  Saws,"  etc.,  and  a  short  poem,  "  The  Baron's  Yule 
Feast,"  were  issued  about  the  same  time.  The  tk  Purgatory 
of  Suicides"  had  been  dedicated,  without  leave  asked,  to 
Thomas  Carlyle,  to  whom  the  author  sent  a  copy,  and  from 
whom  he  received  in  acknowledgment  a  characteristic  letter,  in 
which,  among  other  kind  and  wise  things,  that  greatest  of  all 
the  literary  men  of  his  age  said,  "  I  have  looked  into  your 
poem,  and  find  indisputable  traces  of  genius  in  it — a  dark  Ti- 
tanic energy  struggling  there,  for  which  we  hope  there  will  be 
clearer  daylight  by  and  by  ;"  and  along  with  tiie  letter  came  a 
copy  of  4t  Past  and  Present,"  with  Carlyle's  autograph.  In 
1846  Cooper  was  at  work  on  Douglas  Jerrold's  weekly  paper, 
visiting  the  Midland  and  Northern  Counties  as  a  sort  ot"  com- 
missioner, and  writing  articles  on  the  4t  Condition  of  the  Peo- 
ple of  England."  Passing  through  the  Lake  District,  he 
called  on  Wordsworth,  and  was  most  kindly  received  by  the 
"  majestic  old  man."  Great,  however,  was  the  Chartist's  amaze- 
ment to  hear  the  "  Tory"  Wordsworth  say  with  reference  to 
the  Chartist  movement,  "  You  were  right  ;  I  have  always  said 
the  people  were  right  in  what  they  asked  ;  but  you  went  the 
wrong  way  to  get  it."  On  his  return  to  London,  Cooper  en- 
gaged to  lecture  on  Sunday  evenings  at  South  Place,  Finsbury 
Square,  and  continued  the  work  of  public  lecturer  for  the  next 
eight  years.  During  this  time  he  lectured  through  the  winter 
for  various  political  and  socialist  societies  in  several  large  halls 
in  London,  such  as  the  John  Street  Institution  and  the  "  Hall 
of  Science,"  City  Road,  and  filled  up  the  time  during  the  sum- 
mer by  lecturing  tours  throughout  the  kingdom.  He  had  now 
become  a  sceptic,  i.e.  doubter,  and  confined  himself  in  his  lec- 
tures exclusively  to  secular  topics,  political  or  literary.  The 
misery  he  had  witnessed  in  Leicester  and  the  Potteries,  the 
failure  of  all  his  efforts  to  benefit  the  suffering  poor,  and  the 
long  imprisonment  he  had  endured  as  a  disinterested  champion 
of  their  cause,  had  sorely  shaken  his  faith  in  Divine  Providence 
and  driven  him  to  the  verge  of  downright  atheism,  but  only 
to  the  verge  :  he  declares  that  lie  was  never  an  atheist,  nor 
ever  "  proclaimed  blank  atheism  in  his  public  teaching. "  *  Y^et 
it  must  be  confessed  he  went  far  in  this  direction.  The  worst 

*  "Life  of  Thomas  Cooper,"  p.  262,  also  pp.  356  367. 


THOMAS    COOPER.  185 

period  of  his  life  in  this  respect  was  the  winter  of  1848-49, 
when,  having  become  a  disciple  of  Strauss,  he  engaged  to  give 
a  series  of  lectures  on  Sunday  evenings  in  the  "  Hall  of  Science" 
on  the  teachings  of  the  "  Leben  Jesu. "  He  says  :  "  There  is 
no  part  of  my  teaching  as  a  public  lecturer  that  I  regret  so 
deeply  as  this.  It  would  rejoice  my  heart  indeed  if  I  could 
obliterate  those  lectures  from  the  realm  of  fact. "  *  But  for  the 
most  part  his  addresses  were  on  purely  literary  or  historical 
subjects,  and  marvellous  indeed  was  tte  versatility  and  extent 
of  learning  they  displayed.  The  enumeration  of  topics  alone 
would  occupy  several  pages.  Every  one  of  the  chief  English 
poets  and  their  poems,  the  history  of  every  European  country, 
the  lives  of  great  reformers,  statesmen,  generals,  inventors,  dis- 
coverers, men  of  science,  musicians,  ancient  philosophers  and 
modern  philanthropists,  negro  slavery,  taxation,  national  debt, 
the  age  of  chivalry,  the  Middle  Ages,  wrongs  of  Poland,  the 
Gypsies,  ancient  Egypt,  astronomy,  geology,  natural  history, 
the  vegetable  kingdom — these  and  scores  of  other  topics  were 
treated  during  these  years  of  lecturing  life  in  London  and  the 
provinces.  In  addition  to  these  duties  he  had  other  cares  and 
toils.  In  1848-49  he  edited  a  weekly  paper  called  the  Plain 
Speaker,  and  in  the  following  year  Cooper's  Journal.  His 
1  Triumph  of  Perseverance"  appeared  in  1849,  "  Alderman 
Ralph"  and  "The  Family  Feud,"  two  novels,  in  1853  and 
1855  respectively. 

Returning  from  a  lecturing  tour  at  the  end  of  1855,  he  was 
conscious  of  a  great  and  vital  change  which  had  for  some  time 
been  going  on  within  his  mind,  and  when  he  attempted  to  re- 
commence his  work  at  the  City  Hall  in  January,  1856,  he  found 
it  impossible  to  go  on  along  the  old  lines.  On  a  certain  mem- 
orable night,  when  announced  to  speak  on  "  Sweden  and  the 
Swedes,"  he  could  not  utter  a  word.  He  turned  pale  as  death, 
and  as  the  audience  sat  gazing  and  wondering  what  could  have 
come  to  the  bold  and  fluent  speaker,  whose  tongue  was  ready 
on  every  theme,  his  pent-up  feelings  at  length  found  vent.  He 
told  the  people  he  could  lecture  on  Sweden,  but  must  relieve 
his  conscience,  for  he  could  suppress  conviction  no  longer.  He 
then  declared  that  he  had  been  insisting  on  the  duty  of  morality 
for  years,  but  there  had  been  this  radical  defect  in  his  teach- 
ings, that  he  had  "  neglected  to  teach  the  right  foundation  for 
morals — the  existence  of  a  Divine  moral  Governor."  j  In  the 

*  "  Life  of  Thomas  Cooper,"  p.  316.  f  Ibid.,  p.  335. 


ISO  ILLUSTRIOUS    SHoKM  A  K  KKS. 

storm  which  followed  he  challenged  them  to  bring  the  best 
sceptics  they  could  muster  in  the  metropolis,  and  he  would 
meet  them  in  debate  on  the  being  of  God  and  the  argument  for 
a  future  state.  He  kept  his  promise,  and  for  four  nights  main- 
tained his  ground  against  Robert  Cooper  *  and  others  in  the 
City  Hall  and  the  John  Street  Institute. 

But  though  the  battle  was  fought  out  bravely  in  public,  he 
had  yet  another  conflict  to  wage  and  win  ere  his  mind  enjoyed 
rest  and  peace  in  the  faith  of  a  true  Christian.  In  this  conflict 
he  received  valuable  aid  from  the  Rev.  Charles  Kingslcy,  f  and 
his  old  friend  and  relative,  Dr.  Jobson.  Through  the  kind  in- 
terest of  the  Rev.  F.  I).  Maurice,  W.  E.  Foster,  M.P.,  and 
W.  F.  Cowper,  President  of  the  Board  of  Health,  Cooper  ob- 
tained employment  for  two  years  under  Government  as  a  copy- 
ist of  letters.  Returning  to  the  City  Hall,  he  now  began  a  se- 
ries of  Sunday-evening  lectures  on  Theism,  and  advancing  stage 
by  stage,  he  took  up  such  themes  as  the  Moral  Government  of 
God,  Man's  Moral  Nature,  the  Soul  and  a  Future  State,  Evi- 
dences of  Christianity,  Atonement,  Faith,  Repentance,  etc. 
But  his  return  to  the  truth  of  Christ  and  Christianity  was  grad- 
ual, though  sure.  As  he  says,  "  I  had  been  twelve  years  a 
sceptic  ;  and  it  was  not  until  fully  two  years  had  been  devoted 
to  hard  reading  and  thinking  that  I  could  conscientiously  and 
truly  say,  I  am  again  a  Christian,  even  nominally."  Saved  in 
an  extraordinary  manner  from  death  by  a  railway  accident  as  he 
was  travelling  to  Bradford  on  the  10th  May,  1858,  he  finally 
and  fully  resolved  to  dedicate  his  powers  to  the  service  of  God, 
saying  within  himself  as  he  stood  looking  on  the  mournful 
sight  of  the  ruined  train  and  the  dead  and  wounded  lying 
around,  "  Oh,  take  my  life,  which  Thou  hast  graciously  kept, 
and  let  it  be  devoted  to  Thee.  I  have  again  entered  Thy  ser- 
vice ;  let  me  never  more  leave  it,  but  live  only  to  spread  Thy 
truth  !" 

He  began  at  once  not  only  to  lecture  on  the  evidences  of 
Christianity,  but  to  preach,  and  received  many  solicitations  to 
join  different  religious  societies.  Dr.  Hook  of  Leeds  gener- 
ously offered  him  an  appointment  as  head  of  a  band  of  Scrip- 

*The  charges  of  atheism  and  atheistic  advocacy  made  against 
Thomas  Cooper  have  often  arisen  from  confounding  Thomas  Cooper 
the  sceptic  with  Robert  Cooper  the  infidel.  See  "Life  of  Thomas 
Cooper,"  p.  357. 

f  See  letters  to  Thomas  Cooper  in  "  Kingsley's  Life  and  Letters." 
London  :  Henry  King  &  Co.,  1877,  pp.  183  and  221,  etc. 


THOMAS    COOPER.  187 

tiire-readers,  with  freedom  to  go  out  on  his  own  mission  as  a 
speaker  when  he  pleased.  This  offer  he  declined,  with  grate- 
ful thanks  to  the  worthy  vicar.  In  the  spring  of  the  following 
year  he  decided  to  join  the  Baptist  denomination,  and  writes, 
"  Reflection  made  me  a  Baptist  in  conviction,  and  on  Whitsun- 
day, 1859,  my  old  and  dear  friend,  Joseph  Foulkes  Winks,  im- 
mersed me  in  baptism  in  Friar  Lane  Chapel,  Leicester." 

From  that  time  to  the  present — twenty-two  years — Thomas 
Cooper  has  devoted  his  great  powers  to  the  work  of  preaching 
and  lecturing  on  the  evidences  of  the  Christian  religion.  The 
energy  and  ability  displayed'  in  this  noble  work  by  the  veteran 
orator  have  been  remarkable.  For  months  together  he  has 
been  known  to  travel  long  distances  by  rail,  and  lecture  four  or 
five  times  in  the  week,  and  preach  three  times  on  Sunday. 
After  a  two  hours'  lecture  he  was  wont,  during  the  first  few 
years  of  this  period,  to  recite  the  first  two  or  three  books  of 
Milton's  "  Paradise  Lost."  Few,  if  any,  that  ever  heard  his 
preaching  can  forget  its  rich  spirituality  of  tone  and  delightful 
purity  and  simplicity  of  style.  The  lectures  it  is  hard  to  de- 
scribe without  seeming  to  exaggerate  their  rare  merits.  The 
best  testimony  to  their  worth  has  been  given  by  the  hundreds  of 
thousands  who  have  come  together  to  listen  to  them  as  de- 
livered in  all  the  chief  towns  of  England,  Scotland,  and  Wales 
for  more  than  twenty  years,  and  by  their  rapid  and  extensive 
sale  when  published.  Crowded  with  facts  of  history  or  science 
which  are  clearly  arranged  and  pressed  into  the  service  of  logi- 
cal argument,  delivered  extemporaneously  in  language  of  the 
truest  and  homeliest  Saxon  type,  and  often  marked  by  passages 
of  great  eloquence,  these  lectures  may  be  taken  as  ideals  of 
what  popular  lectures  on  religious  evidence^  should  be.  Of 
his  present  employment,  Thomas  Cooper,  writing  in  1872,  says, 
in  his  own  simple  fashion  :  "  My  work  is  indeed  a  happy  work. 
Sunday  is  now  a  day  of  heaven  to  me.  I  feel  that  to  preach 
4  the  unsearchable  riches  of  Christ '  is  the  most  exalted  and 
ennobling  work  in  which  a  human  creature  can  be  engaged. 
And  believing  that  I  am  performing  the  work  of  duty — that  I 
am  right — my  employment  of  lecturing  on  the  *  Evidences  of 
Natural  and  Revealed  Religion,'  from  week  to  week,  fills  me 
with  the  consoling  reflection  that  my  life  is  not  being  spent  in 
vain,  much  less  spent  in  evil."  Happy  close  of  a  strangely 
eventful  and  checkered  life  !  May  the  stalwart  old  laborer  of 
seventy -five  be  spared  to  scatter  many  a  handful  of  the  seeds  of 
truth  before  he  hears  the  summons  which  shall  end  his  labors. 


188  ILLUSTRIOUS   SHOEMAKERS. 

We  have  spoken,  in  the  title  of  this  chapter,  of  Thomas 
Cooper  as  "  The  self-educated  shoemaker  who  reared  his  own 
monument.7'  This  sketch  cannot  be  closed  more  appropriately 
than  by  giving  the  titles  of  the  works  published  during  the  last 
eight  years — the  stones  which  form  the  chief  part  of  that 
monument  : 

The  Bridge  of  History  over  the  Gulf  of  Time  (1872),  twentieth 

thousand. 

Plain  Pulpit-Talk  (1872),  third  edition. 
The  Life  of  Thomas  Cooper,  written  by  Himself  (1872),  twelfth 

thousand. 

The  Paradise  of  Martyrs,  or  Faith  Khyme  (1873). 
God,  the  Soul,  and  a  Future  State  (1873),  eight  thousand. 
Old-Fashioned  Stories  (1874),  third  edition. 
The  Verity  of  Christ's  Resurrection  from  the  Dead  (1875),  fifth 

thousand. 
The  Verity  and  Value  of  the  Miracles  of  Christ  (1876),  fourth 

thousand. 
The  Poetical  Works —Purgatory  of  Suicides,  Paradise  of  Martyrs, 

Minor  Poems   (1877),    Evolution,   the   Stone  Book,  and  the 

Mosaic  Record  of  Creation  (1878),  third  thousand. 
The  Atonement  and  other  Discourses  (1880). 


(ftottstellatton  nf  (Kelefcratefc  (Eoftfclers. 


"  This  day  is  called  Ihe  feast  of  Crispin : 

And  Crispin  Crispian  shall  ne'er  go  by, 

From  this  day  to  the  ending  of  the  world, 

But  we  in  it  shall  be  remembered : 

We  few,  we  happy  few,  we  band  of  brothers." 

— Shakespeare.  King  Henry  Fifths  Address 
to  the  Leaders  of  the  English  Army  on 
the  Eve  of  the  Battle  of  Agincourt.  Act 
V.  Scene  3. 


ARCHBISHOP  WHATELY  once  amused  a  clerical  dinner-party  by 
asking  the  question,  "  Why  do  white  sheep  eat  more  than  black 
sheep  ?"  When  none  of  his  friends  could  answer  the  question, 
the  witty  Archbishop  dryly  remarked  that  one  reason  undoubted- 
ly was  that  * '  there  were  more  of  them. ' '  The  question  is  often 
asked,  ' '  How  are  we  to  account  for  the  fact  that  shoemakers 
outnumber  any  other  handicraft  in  the  ranks  of  illustrious 
men  ?"  *  Perhaps  this  question  may  be  answered  in  the  same 
way.  At  all  events,  the  answer  "  there  are  more  of  them,'* 
will  go  a  long  way  toward  a  solution  of  this  interesting  social 
problem.  The  sons  of  Crispin  are  certainly  a  very  numerous 
class,  and  it  is  but  natural  that  they  should  figure  largely  in  the 
lists  of  famous  men.  But  inquirers  on  this  subject  are  not 
generally  satisfied  by  an  appeal  to  statistics.  It  is  felt  that 
something  more  is  required  in  order  to  account  for  the  remark  - 

*  Among  others,  Coleridge  observed  that  shoemakers  had  given 
to  the  world  a  larger  number  of  eminent  men  than  any  handicraft. 
The  philosophic  was  rather  partial  to  shoemakers,  from  the  time 
when,  as  a  boy  at  Christ's  Hospital,  he  wished  to  be  apprenticed  to 
the  trade  of  shoeinaking. 


190  ILLUSTRIOUS   SHOEMAKERS. 

able  proportion  of  shoemakers  in  the  roll  of  men  of  mark.  In 
addition  to  this,  it  must  be  borne  in  mind  that  the  reputation 
of  shoemakers  does  not  depend  entirely  on  their  most  illustri- 
ous representatives.  They  have,  as  a  class,  a  reputation  which 
is  quite  unique.  The  followers  of  "  the  gentle  craft"  have 
generally  stood  foremost  among  artisans  as  regards  intelligence 
and  social  influence.  Probably  no  class  of  workmen  could,  in 
these  respects,  compete  with  them  fifty  or  a  hundred  years  ago, 
when  education  and  reading  were  not  so  common  as  they  arc 
now.  Almost  to  a  man  they  had  some  credit  for  thoughtful- 
ness,  shrewdness,  logical  skill,  and  debating  power  ;  and  their 
knowledge  derived  from  books  was  admitted  to  be  beyond  the 
average  among  operatives.  They  were  generally  referred  to  by 
men  of  their  own  social  status  for  the  settlement  of  disputed 
points  in  literature,  science,  politics,  or  theology.  Advocates 
of  political,  social,  or  religious  reform,  local  preachers,  Method- 
ist *'  class-leaders,"  and  Sunday-school  teachers,  were  drafted 
in  larger  numbers  from  the  fraternity  of  shoemakers  than  from 
any  other  craft. 

How  are  we  to  account  for  such  facts  as  these  ?  Is  there 
anything  in  the  occupation  of  the  shoemaker  which  is  peculiarly 
favorable  to  habits  of  thought  and  study  ?  It  would  seem  to 
be  so  ;  and  yet  it  would  be  difficult  to  show  what  it  is  that 
gives  him  an  advantage  over  all  other  workmen.  The  secret 
may  lie  in  the  fact  that  he  sits  to  his  work,  and,  as  a  rule,  sits 
alone  ;  that  his  occupation  stimulates  his  mind  without  wholly 
occupying  and  absorbing  its  powers  ;  that  it  leaves  him  free  to 
break  off,  if  he  will,  at  intervals,  and  glance  at  the  book  or 
make  notes  on  the  paper  which  lies  beside  him.  Such  facts  as 
these  have  been  suggested,  and  not  without  reason,  as  helping 
us  to  account  for  the  reputation  which  the  sons  of  Crispin  enjoy 
as  an  uncommonly  clever  class  of  men. 


ANCIENT  EXAMPLES  IN  ASIA  AND  AFRICA. 


THE  COBBLER   AND  THE   ARTIST  APELLES, 

"  Let  the  cobbler  stick  to  his  last.11 

THE  reputation  of  the  shoemaker  class  is  not  confined  to  our 
own  country  or  to  modern  times.  It  is  pretty  much  the  same  in 
all  countries,  and  reaches  back  to  very  ancient  times.  The  prov- 
erb, "Ne  Sutor  ultra  crepidam" — "  Let  the  cobbler  stick  to 
his  last" — is  one  of  the  oldest  in  existence.  Few  proverbs  are 
more  universally  and  frequently  quoted.  It  is  based  on  a  story 
which  comes  down  to  us  from  the  times  of  Alexander  the 
Great.  Even  if  the  story,  as  it  is  told  in  our  Grecian  histories, 
be  not  authentic,  it  serves  to  show  that  even  in  times  preceding 
the  Christian  era  cobblers  were  regarded  as  a  shrewd  and  ob- 
servant set  of  men.  But  there  is  no  reason  that  we  know  of  to 
doubt  the  story,  which  is  well  worth  repeating.  It  is  told  of 
Apelles,  one  of  the  most  celebrated  of  the  old  Greek  painters, 
who  flourished  about  300  B.C.  He  was  the  friend  of  Alexander, 
and  the  only  artist  whom  the  great  warrior  would  allow  to  paint 
his  portrait.  Apelles,  we  are  told,  was  not  ashamed  to  learn 
from  the  humblest  critics.  As  Lord  Bacon  says,  he  did  not 
object  to  "  light  his  torch  at  any  man's  candle."  For  this  rea- 
son, knowing  that  a  good  deal  may  sometimes  be  learned  from 
the  observations  of  passers-by,  he  was  in  the  habit  of  placing 
his  pictures  before  they  were  quite  finished  outside  his  house  ; 
and  then,  crouching  down  behind  them,  he  listened  to  the 
remarks  of  spectators.  On  one  occasion  a  cobbler  noticed  a 
fault  in  the  painting  of  a  shoe,  and  remarking  upon  it  to  a  per- 
son standing  by,  passed  on.  As  soon  as  the  man  was  out  of 
sight  Apelles  came  from  his  hiding-place,  examined  the  paint- 
ing, found  that  the  cobbler's  criticism  was  just,  and  at  once 
corrected  the  error.  Once  more  the  picture  was  exposed,  while 
the  artist  lay  behind  it  to  hear  what  further  might  be  said. 
The  cobbler  came  by  again,  and  soon  .discovered  that  the  fault 


192  ILLUSTRIOUS   SHOEMAKERS. 

he  had  pointed  out  had  been  remedied  ;  and,  emboldened  by 
the  success  of  his  criticism,  began  to  express  his  opinion  pretty 
freely  about  the  painting  of  the  leg !  This  was  too  much  for 
the  patience  of  the  artist,  who  rushed  from  his  hiding-place, 
and  told  the  cobbler  to  stick  to  his  shoes.  Hence  the  proverb, 
which  for  more  than  two  thousand  years  *  has  expressed  the 
common  feeling,  that  critics  would  do  well  not  to  venture  be- 
yond their  legitimate  province. 


TWO  SHOEMAKER-BISHOPS— ANNIANUS  OF   ALEX. 
ANDRIA,  AND   ALEXANDER  OF  COMANA. 

If  the  shoemaker  has  found  a  place  in  classic  history,  it 
must  not  be  forgotten  that  he  has  a  place  in  ecclesiastical  his- 
tory also.  In  two  instances  a  shoemaker  is  said  to  have  been 
taken  direct  from  the  stall  and  elevated  to  the  episcopal  chair. 
No  doubt  many  shoemakers  have  been  endowed  with  sufficient 
piety  and  learning  for  this  sacred  and  dignified  office,  and 
probably  not  a  few  have  deemed  themselves  fit,  whether  they 
were  so  or  not,  to  discharge  its  high  functions  ;  but  the  in- 
stances here  given  are,  we  believe,  quite  unique.  The  first  is 
that  of  Anianus  or  Annianus  (A.D.  62-86),  who  is  said  to  have 
been  appointed  by  St.  Mark  to  assist  him  in  the  government  of 
the  Church  at  Alexandria.  On  the  outbreak  of  persecution 
under  Nero,  Mark  fled  from  the  city  ;  and,  as  Eusebius  says, 
**  Nero  was  now  in  his  eighth  year,  when  Annianus  succeeded 
the  Apostle  and  Evangelist  Mark  in  the  administration  of  the 
Church  at  Alexandria."  The  historian  adds,  4'  He  (Annianus) 
was  a  man  distinguished  for  piety,  and  admirable  in  every 
respect.'7  f  He  died  in  the  fourth  year  of  Domitian,  86  A.D. 
He  was  the  firstBishop  of  Alexandria,  and  filled  the  office  twen- 
ty-two years.  J'  To  these  simple  statements  of  the  historian  are 
added  the  stories  which  found  a  ready  acceptance  in  later  times. 
To  the  fact  that  the  worthy  Alexandrian  was  a  shoemaker  tradi- 
tion added  the  account  of  the  miracle  wrought  upon  him  by 
St.  Mark.  One  account  tells  us  that  the  Evangelist,  on  pass- 
ing along  the  street,  burst  his  shoe  and  turned  in  to  get  it 
repaired,  and  so  became  acquainted  with  Annianus.  Another 

*It  is  used  by  Pliny,  who  died  A.D.  79. 
fEccles.  Hist.,  "Book  ii.  cap.  xxiv. 
\  Ibid.,  Book  iii.  cap.  xiv. 


THE    PIOUS   COBBLER.  193 

version  of  the  story  declares  that  the  cobbler,  having  hurt  his 
hand  with  an  awl,  uttered  a  not  very  pious  exclamation,  which 
Mark  overheard  as  he  passed  by,  and  going  in  to  inquire  the 
cause,  took  the  opportunity  not  only  to  heal  the  wound,  but  to 
speak  to  the  impatient  workman  of  the  trae  and  living  God 
whose  name  he  had  taken  in  vain.  Annianus  is  commemorat- 
ed in  the  Roman  Marty rology  with  St.  Mark  on  the  25th  April.* 
The  other  appointment  of  a  shoemaker  to  the  episcopate 
was  due  to  the  piety  and  wisdom  of  Gregory  Thaumaturgus, 
the  pupil  and  friend  of  Origen  (220-270  A.D.).  Gregory  was 
then  Bishop  of  Xco-Ca3sarca  in  Asia  Minor,  and  when  a 
vacancy  occurred  in  the  bishopric  of  Com  an  a  in  Cappadocia, 
he  defied  all  conventionalism  and  prejudice,  and  appointed  "  a 
poor  shoemaker  named  Alexander,  despised  by  the  world,  but 
great  in  the  sight  of  God,  who  did  honor  to  so  exalted  a 
station  in  the  Church."  f  He  was  chosen  in  preference  to 
scholars  and  men  of  good  social  status  on  account  of  his  extraor- 
dinary piety.  This  Alexander  justified  the  choice  thus  made 
by  reason  of  his  excellent  discourse,  his  holy  living,  and  a 
martyr's  death.  He  is  honored  in  the  Roman  Calendar  on 
August  llth.  J 

THE  PIOUS   COBBLER   OF   ALEXANDRIA. 

Quite  as  good  a  man,  no  doubt,  if  not  as  fit  to  fill  the  epis- 
copal chair,  was  the  pious  cobbler  of  Alexandria,  of  whom  we 
read  that  St.  Anthony  paid  him  a  visit  in  consequence  of  a 
voice  from  Heaven  which  said  to  him,  4t  Antony,  thou  art  not 
so  perfect  as  a  cobbler  that  dwelleth  at  Alexandria."  The 
pious  anchorite  was  in  the  habit  of  hearing  such  voices  and 
obeying  them.  All  the  leading  events  of  his  life  were  accom- 
panied by  a  similar  message  from  heaven,  as  he  deemed  it. 
Accordingly  he  took  his  star!,  and  leaving  his  secluded  retreat 
in  the  desert,  came  down  to  the  great  city  in  search  of  the 
pious  cobbler.  Arriving  before  his  door,  where  the  good  man 

*  Annianus  is  regarded  in  some  countries  as  the  patron  saint  of 
shoemakers.  Campion's  "Delightful  History  of  ye  Gentle  Craft." 
Northampton  :  Taylor  &  Son,  2d  ed.,  1876,  p.  25. 

f  Pressense's  "Early  Years  of  Christianity."  London  :  Hodder  & 
Stoughton,  1879,  vol.  ii.  p.  355. 

t  Dr.  Smith's  "  Diet.  Christian  Biog.,"  art.  "Gregory  Thaumatur- 
gus."  In  this  article  Gregory  is  called  a  charcoal-burner.  Probably, 
like  many  other  shoemakers,  he  followed  more  than  one  vocation. 


194  ILLUSTRIOUS   SHOEMAKERS. 

sat  at  work,  Antony  asked  him  for  an  account  of  himself  and 
his  mode  of  living.  4*  Sir,"  answered  the  cobbler,  "  as  for 
me,  good  works  I  have  none.  My  life  is  but  simple,  seeing  I 
arn  but  a  poor  cobbler.  In  the  morning  when  I  rise,  I  pray 
for  the  whole  city  wherein  I  dwell,  especially  for  all  such 
neighbors  and  poor  friends  as  I  have  ;  after  that  I  sit  me  down 
to  my  labor,  where  I  spend  the  whole  day  in  getting  my 
living  ;  and  I  keep  me  from  all  falsehood,  for  I  hate  nothing 
so  much  as  I  do  deceitfulness  ;  wherefore  when  I  make  any 
man  a  promise,  I  keep  it  and  perform  it  truly  ;  and  thus  I 
spend  my  time  poorly  with  my  wife  and  children,  whom  I 
teach  and  instruct,  so  far  as  my  wit  will  serve  rne,  to  fear  and 
dread  God  ;  and  this  is  the  sum  of  my  simple  life." 


RABBI  JOCIIANAN  THE   SHOEMAKER. 

Speaking  of  Alexandria  reminds  us  of  another  worthy  of  that 
city,  the  famous  Jewish  Rabbi  Joehanan  Sandalarius,  or  the 
shoemaker.  Learned  Rabbins  were  common  enough  in  Alex- 
andria from  the  time  of  its  foundation  by  Alexander  the 
Great,  332  B.C.,  down  to  its  capture  by  the  Arabs  in  the  sev- 
enth century  A.D.  And  as  it  was  the  custom  with  even  the 
most  learned  Rabbins  to  learn  a  trade,  it  can  be  no  matter  of 
surprise  that  many  of  the  most  eminent  leaders  of  thought 
among  the  Jews  were  employed  in  what  are  now  regarded  as 
very  humble  occupations.  The  Delegate  Chief  Rabbi  of  Great 
Britain,  in  an  interesting  article  in  the  Nineteenth  Century,* 
tells  us  that  "  in  the  grand  basilica  synagogue  of  Alexandria, 
separate  portions  of  the  building  were  assigned  to  the  silver- 
smiths, weavers,  and  other  trades.  .  .  .  The  Rabbins,  the 
authorized  expounders  of  the  law,  deemed  it  derogatory  to 
receive  any  reward  for  the  exercise  of  their  spiritual,  doctrinal, 
or  judicial  functions,  and  maintained  themselves  by  the  labor 
of  their  hands.  And  thus  in  the  Talmud  we  meet,  in  curious 
juxtaposition,  the  Rabbi  and  his  trade  in  such  phrases  as 
these  :  "  It  was  taught  by  Rabbi  Joehanan  the  shoemaker." 
This  illustrious  Rabbi  came  from  Alexandria  to  Palestine,  at- 
tracted by  the  great  name  of  Akiba  Ben  Joseph,  the  famous 
Rabbi,  who  was  the  chief  teacher  of  the  rabbinical  school  at 
Jaffa  at  the  close  of  the  first  century  and  the  beginning  of  the 

*  December,  1881. 


RABBI   JOCHANAN   THE   SHOEMAKER.  195 

second.  In  this  school  there  were  said  to  be  no  less  than 
24,000  pupils.  Akiba  sided  with  Bar  Cocheba  in  his  revolt 
against  Rome,  132  A.D.,  acknowledged  him  as  the  Messiah, 
and  became  his  armor-bearer.  On  the  death  of  Bar  Cocheba 
and  the  destruction  of  his  army,  Akiba  was  taken  prisoner,  and 
remained  in  the  hands  of  the  Romans  for  a  long  time,  until 
his  cruel  death  under  Sevcms.  During  his  imprisonment 
Jochanan  managed  to  get  access  to  his  cell,  and  receive  in- 
structions from  him  on  questions  which  had  not  been  settled. 
Through  Jochanan  and  Mei.r,  Akiba  greatly  influenced  the 
teachers  of  the  next  generation.  Jochanan  was  certainly  one 
of  his  most  illustrious  pupils,  taking  a  leading  part  in  the 
theological  discussions  of  the  Tanaim,  the  authors  of  the  Mishria 
and  Gamara,  where  his  opinions  are  frequently  quoted.  In 
the  Mishna  Aboth  *  "  Rabbi  Jochanan  the  shoemaker"  is  re- 
ported to  have  made  the  following  sensible  remark,  which  re- 
minds one  of  the  counsel  of  Gamaliel  to  the  Sanhedrim  at 
Jerusalem  :  f  "  An  association  established  for  a  praiseworthy 
object  must  ultimately  succeed  ;  but  an  association  established 
•without  such  an  object  cannot  succeed. " 


EUROPEAN  EXAMPLES. 


FRANCE. 


SS.  CRISPIN  AND  CRISPIANTJS,  THE  PATRON  SAINTS 
OF  SHOEMAKERS. 

UNDOUBTEDLY  the  first  shoemakers  who  obtained  anything 
like  a  general  reputation  were  the  famous  brothers  Crispin  and 
Crispianus,  who  are  said  to  have  lived  in  the  third  century  of 
our  era.  These  saints  have  been  regarded  almost  ever  since 
that  early  time  as  the  tutelary  or  patron  saints  of  shoemakers, 
who  are,  to  tell  the  truth,  not  a  little  proud  of  their  romantic 
title,  "  the  sons  of  Crispin. "  We  must  be  careful  how  we 
speak  of  these  safnts,  for  it  seems  to  be  an  open  question 
whether  the  story  of  their  holy  self-denying  lives  and  martyr- 
deaths  be  true  or  false.  If  the  main  features  of  the  story  be 
true,  they  have  been  greatly  distorted  by  fable.  We  give  the 
story  as  it  is  generally  reported. 

SS.  Crispin  and  Crispianus  were  born  in  Rome.  Having 
become  converts  to  Christianity,  they  set  out  with  St.  Denis 
from  that  city  to  become  preachers  of  the  Gospel,  travelled  on 
foot  through  Italy,  and  finally  settled  down  at  a  little  town, 
now  called  Soissons,  in  the  modern  department  of  Aisne,  about 
fifty  or  sixty  miles  to  the  north-east  of  Paris.  Here  they  arc 
said  to  have  devoted  their  time  during  the  day  to  preaching, 
and  to  have  maintained  themselves  by  working  during  most  of 
the  night  as  shoemakers.  This  they  did  on  the  apostolic  model 
of  Paul,  who,  while  he  carried  on  his  mission  as  a  preacher, 
maintained  himself  by  his  trade  as  a  tent-maker,  that  he  might 
be  k<  chargeable  to  no  man/'  Very  little  more  can  be  told  of 


108  ILLUSTRIOUS   SHOEMAKERS. 

the  life  of  theso  saintly  shoemakers  than  this  ;  but  this,  surely, 
is  a  great  deal.  The  story  goes  that  they  suffered  martyrdom 
by  the  order  of  Rictus  Varus,  governor  or  consul  in  Belgic 
Gaul,  during  the  persecution  under  Diocletian  and  Maximinus, 
on  the  25th  of  October,  287.  The  25th  of  October  is  still  kept 
in  honor  of  these  saints  in  some  parts  of  England  and  Wales, 
and  in  other  European  countries.  The  shoemakers  of  the  dis- 
trict turn  out  in  large  numbers  and  parade  the  streets,  headed 
by  bands  of  music,  and  accompanied  by  banners  on  which  are 
emblazoned  the  emblems  of  the  craft. 

It  is  difficult,  as  already  intimated,  to  tell  how  much  of  pure 
legend  has  been  imported  into  the  history  of  the  saints  of  Sois- 
sons.  One  tradition  declares  them  to  have  been  of  noble  birth, 
and  to  have  adopted  their  humble  trade  entirely  for  Christian 
and  charitable  purposes.  Another  story  relates  how  they  fur- 
nished the  poor  with  shoes  at  a  very  low  price,  and  that,  in 
order  to  replenish  their  stock,  and  as  a  mark  of  divine  favor, 
an  angel  came  to  them  by  night  with  supplies  of  leather  ;  while 
yet  another  fable,  not  very  creditable  to  their  morals,  avows 
that  Saint  Crispin  stole  the  leather,  so  that  he  might  be  able  to 
give  shoes  to  the  poor.  Hence  the  term  Crispinades  to  denote 
charities  done  at  the  expense  of  other  people.  To  crown  all, 
it  is  averred  on  one  authority  that  after  suffering  a  horrible  death 
by  the  sword,  their  bodies  were  thrown  into  the  sea,  and  were 
cast  ashore  at  Romney  Marsh.*  Such  tales  are  worthless,  ex- 
cept as  indicating  the  wide  extent  of  popularity  the  shoemakers 
of  Soissons  secured  by  virtue  of  their  piety  and  benevolence,  f 

*  On  the  beach  at  Lidde,  near  Stonend,  "  there  is  yet  to  be  scene," 
says  Weever,  in  his  "Funeral  Monuments,"  "an  heap  of  great  stones 
which  the  neighbour  inhabitants  call  St.  Crispin' sand  St.  Crisp  inian's 
tomb,  whom  they  report  to  have  been  cast  upon  this  shore  by  ship- 
wracke,  and  from  hence  called  into  the  glorious  company  of  the  saints. 
Look  Jacobus  de  Voraigne,  in  the  legend  of  their  lives,  and  you  may 
believe  perhaps  as  much  as  is  spoken.  They  were  shoemakers,  and 
suffered  martyrdom  the  tenth  of  the  kalends  of  November  (25th  Oc- 
tober), which  day  is  kept  holy  to  this  day  by  all  our  shoemakers  in 
London  and  elsewhere." — Quoted  in  "  Crispin  Anecdotes,"  Sheffield, 
1827,  p.  18. 

•(•  For  the  legends  of  these  saints,  and  much  curious  information 
respecting  the  craft  and  its  guilds  in  early  times,  the  reader  may  con- 
sult Lacroix,  "Manners,  Customs,  and  Dress  in  the  Middle  Ages  ;" 
"  Histoire  de  la  Chaussure,"  etc.  That  quaint  old  book,  "The  De- 
lightful, Princely,  and  Entertaining  History  of  the  Gentle  Craft,"  by 
T.  Deloney,  1678,  gives  the  story  of  the  princely  and  saintly  brothers  in 
its  English  dress,  and  it  is  one  of  the  strangest  tales  even  in  legendary 


.    CRISPIN    AXI)    (  IlLSPlAXrS.  100 

Mr-.  Jameson,  in  her  interesting  work  on  "  Legendary 
Art,"  *says,  "  The  devotional  figures  which  are  common  in  old 
:<:h  prints  represent  these  saints  standing  together,  holding 
the  palm  in  one  hand,  and  in  the  other  the  awl  or  shoemaker's 
knife.  They  are  very  often  met  with  in  old  stained  glass  work- 
ing at  their  trade,  or  making  shoes  for  the  poor — the  usual  sub- 
-  in  shoemakers'  guilds  all  over  France  and  Germany. 
Italian  pictures  of  these  saints  are  rare.  There  is,  however,  one 
by  Guido,  which  presents  the  throned  Madonna,  and  St.  Cris- 
pin presenting  to  her  his  brether,  St.  Crispianus,  while  angels 
from  above  scatter  flowers  on  the  group.  Looking  over  the  old 
French  prints  of  St.  Crispin  and  St.  Crispinian,  which  are  in 
general  either  grotesque  or  commonplace,  I  met  with  one  not 
easily  to  be  forgotten.  It  represents  these  two  famous  saints 
proceed intr  on  their  mission  to  preach  the  gospel  in  France.  They 
are  careering  over  the  sea  in  a  bark  drawn  by  sea-horses  and 
attended  by  tritons,  and  are  attired  in  the  full  court-dress  of 
the  time  of  Louis  XV.,  with  laced  coats  and  cocked  hats  and 
rapi 

Probably  many  of  these  curious  prints  may  still  be  seen  in 
the  library  of  the  cathedral  at  Soissons,  famous  for  its  rare  MSB. 
and  books.  But  a  better  memoiial  of  these  patron  saints  than 
anv  of  the  absurd  representations  of  legendary  art  was  the 
church  erected  in  their  honor  in  the  sixth  century,  and  the  re- 
ligious house  which  stood  on  the  traditionary  site  of  their 
n.  This  house  was  afterward  transformed  into  a  mon- 
astery dedicated  to  St.  Crispin,  and  in  the  year  1142  received 
tiiL-  sanction  of  Pope  Innocent  ILf 

lore.  This  story,  Deloney  tells  us,  accounts  for  the  term  "  gentle 
craft "  as  applied  to  shoemaking,  and  explains  the  saying  ' '  a  shoe- 
maker' s  son  is  a  prince  born.;>  The  Princes  Crispin  and  Crispinian 
becoming  shoemakers  sufficiently  accounts  for  the  former  term,  for 

"  The  gentle  craft  is  fittest  then 
For  poor  distressed  gentlemen  ;"' 

and  the  marriage  of  Crispine  to  Ursula,  the  daughter  of  the  Emperor 
Maxim  inus,  and  the  birth  of  a  son  to  the  Prince,  will  explain  the 
latter.  See  the  stories  and  ballads  thereanent  in  Campion' s  "Delightful 
History  of  the  Gentle  Craft;'  Northampton,  Taylor  &  Son,  2d  ed., 
A  most  interesting  and  valuable  little  book  on  shoes 
and  shoemakers  in  ancient  and  modern  times. 

*  Vol.  ii.  pp.  3<  London,  Longmans,  1848. 

f  Another  memorial  of  the  saints,  of  a  very  different  character,  was 
the  semi-sacred  play  entitled  "  The  Mystery  of  St.  Crispin  an  1 
Crispinian/'  which  used  to  be  performed  on  St.  Crispin's  Day  by  the 
Guilds  or  Brotherhoods  of  Shoemakers  in  Paris  and  elsewhere. 


200  ILLUSTRIOUS    SHOEMAKERS. 


THE   LEARNED   BAUDOUIN. 

The  eminent  French  antiquary,  Benoit  Baudouin,  is  by  far 
the  most  learned  man  who  has  risen  from  the  ranks  of  the  shoe- 
maker class  in  France.  A  native  of  Amiens,  he  was  born  some- 
where about  the  middle  of  the  sixteenth  century.  His  father, 
who  was  also  a  cordonnier  in  that  city,  taught  him  the  art  and 
mystery  of  the  craft  ;  but  the  clever  youth  soon  rose  above  his 
lowly  circumstances,  and  became  first  a  theological  studert,  and 
afterward  the  principal  of  the  college  in  the  old  town  of 
Troves.  Here  the  ancient  and  extensive  library  delighted  him, 
and  his  studies  as  a  historian  and  antiquary  were  determined  to 
some  extent  by  his  former  occupation  as  a  shoemaker  ;  for,  be- 
sides a  translation  of  certain  ancient  tragedies,*  he  is  not  known 
to  have  written  any  original  work  excepting  his  "  Chaussures 
des  Anciens,"  or  "  The  Shoes  of  the  Ancients."  Baudouin 
never  blushed  to  own  his  former  vocation,  f  and  in  writing  this 
remarkable  work  he  was  evidently  moved  by  a  desire  to  do  it 
honor.  J  A  strange  book  indeed  it  must  be,  full  of  the  most 
curious  and  out-of-the-way  learning  and  singular  notions  ;  for, 
not  content  with  describing  the  various  kinds  of  shoes  worn  by 
Roman  and  Greek  and  other  ancient  peoples  who  have  flour- 
ished within  the  historic  period,  the  enthusiastic  and  daring 
scholar  pushes  his  inquiry  back  to  the  days  "  when  Adam 
delved  and  Eve  span,"  until,  at  length,  he  discovers  the  origin 
of  the  foot-covering  in  the  communication  of  the  secret  by  the 
Almighty  Himself  to  tc  the  first  man,  Adam  !"  Spite  of  its 
preposterous  speculations,  the  work  of  the  ex-shoemaker  of 
Amiens  is  learned  and  valuable,  contains  a  vast  amount  of  curi- 
ous lore  in  regard  to  a  not  unimportant  subject,  and  helps  to 
confirm  his  claim  to  the  ambitious  title  of  '*  the  learned  Bau- 
douin." The  first  edition  of  this  work  seems  to  have  been  pub- 
lished in  Paris,  1615.§  It  was  afterward  issued  at  Amster- 
dam, 1667,  and  at  Leyden,  1711,  and  Leipsic,  1733,  in  Latin. 
A  writer  in  the  Biographic  Universelle  says  that  Baudouin  held 
at  one  time  the  office  of  director  of  the  Hotel  Dieu  at  Troyes. 
This  illustrious  French  shoemaker  died  and  was  buried  in  that 
own  in  1632. 


*"Biographie  Universelle."     Paris,  1811. 

f  Ibid. 

t  "Nouveau  Dictionnaire  Historique,"  torn.  ii. 

§  "Nouvelle  Biographic  Generale."     Paris,  1853,  torn.  iv.  p.  786. 


HENRY   MICHAEL   BUCH.  201 


HENRY  MICHAEL  BUCH— "  GOOD  HENRY. " 

Whether  the  story  of  the  shoemaker- saints  of  Soissons  be  re- 
garded as  apocryphal  or  not,  it  has  undoubtedly  had  considera- 
ble influence  for  good,  either  directly  or  indirectly,  over  the 
minds  of  those  who  call  themselves  sons  of  Crispin.  Much  of 
this  has  been  due  to  the  character  and  work  of  a  man  who  was 
evidently  inspired  by  the  story  of  St.  Crispin.  Through  the 
agency  of  this  jnan  a  very  important  movement  was  begun  in 
the  middle  of  the  seventeenth  century,  which  ultimately  issued 
in  a  widespread  religious  and  social  reform  among  the  shoe- 
makers and  other  operatives  of  Western  Europe.  We  allude  to 
the  foundation  of  a  society  called  "  The  Pious  Confraternity 
of  Brother  Shoemakers,"  having  as  their  patrons  and  models 
the  saints  Crispin  and  Crispianus.  The  founder  of  this  society 
was  Henry  Michael  Buch,  who  was  known  throughout  Paris,  in 
his  day  and  long  after,  as  Good  Henry. 

Henry  Michael  Buch  came  from  the  Duchy  of  Luxemburg, 
where  he  had  been  born,  and  where  his  parents,  who  were  day- 
laborers,  had  brought  him  up  in  a  very  simple  manner.  As  a 
child,  Buch  was  remarkably  gifted  and  very  pious.  He  was 
early  apprenticed  to  a  shoemaker,  and  was  accustomed  to 
spend  his  Sundays  and  holidays  in  public  worship  or  private 
devotion.  During  his  apprenticeship  he  began  the  work  of 
reform  among  the  members  of  his  own  craft,  for  his  young 
heart  was  grieved  to  see  them  living  in  ignorance  and  vice. 
Enlisting  the  help  of  the  more  serious  among  them  in  his  good 
work,  he  endeavored  to  instruct  the  apprentices  of  the  town  in 
the  doctrines  of  religion,  to  draw  them  away  from  ale-houses 
and  vicious  company,  and  to  persuade  them  to  spend  their  time 
in  a  sensible  and  profitable  manner.  Taking  the  patron  saints 
of  the  trade  for  a  model,  he  cultivated  habits  of  self-denial  and 
beneficence,  went  always  meanly  clad,  abandoned  luxuries  in 
food  and  clothing,  and  frequently  gave  away  his  own  garments 
in  order  to  clothe  some  poor  brother  shoemaker.  While 
at  Luxemburg  and  Messen,  he  lived  chiefly  on  bread  and 
rrater,  so  that  he  might  be  able  to  feed  the  hungry  and 
destitute. 

Having  removed  to  Paris,  his  good  deeds  soon  attracted  the 
attention  of  Gaston  John  Baptist,  Baron  of  Renti,  who  was  so 
much  impressed  by  the  shoemaker's  simplicity  of  manner,  intel- 
ligence, and  missionary  zeal,  that  he  persuaded  Buch  to  estab- 
lish in  that  city  a  confraternity  among  the  members  of  his  own 


202  ILLUSTRIOUS   SHOEMAKERS. 

humble  craft  for  the  purpose  of  instructing  them  in  the  princi- 
ples and  practices  of  a  holy  life.  With  a  view  to  strengthen  his 
hands  for  such  a  task,  the  freedom  of  the  city  was  purchased 
for  him,  and  means  were  supplied  him  for  starting  in  business 
as  a  master  shoemaker,  "  so  that  he  might  take  apprentices 
and  journeymen  who  were  willing  to  follow  the  rules  that  were 
prescribed  them."  * 

Seven  men  and  youths  having  joined  him  on  these  terms,  the 
foundation  of  his  Confraternity  was  laid  in  1645,  Good  Henry 
being  appointed  the  first  superior,  f 

Two  years  after  this,  the  tailors  of  the  city,  who  had  noticed 
the  conduct  of  the  shoemakers,  and  had  been  delighted  with 
the  goodly  spectacle  presented  in  their  happy  and  useful  lives, 
resolved  to  follow  the  example.  They  borrowed  a  copy  of  th« 
rules,  and  started  a  similar  society  in  1047. 

These  brotherhoods,  but  notably  those  of  the  shoemakers, 
were  spread  through  France  and  Italy,  and  were  the  means  of 
doing  an  immense  amount  of  good  among  the  members  of  the 
two  crafts. 

The  rules  of  the  fraternity  founded  by  Buch  were  assimilated 
to  certain  monastic  orders.  They  enjoined  rising  at  five  o'clock 
and  meeting  for  united  prayer  before  engaging  in  work,  prayeis 
offered  by  the  superior  as  often  as  the  clock  strikes,  at  certain 
hours  the  singing  of  hymns  while  at  work,  at  other  times  silence 
and  meditation  ;  meditation  before  dinner,  the  reading  of  some 
devotional  work  by  one  of  the  number  during  meals  ;  a  retreat 
for  a  few  days  in  every  year  ;  assisting  on  Sundays  and  holy 
days  at  sermons  and  u  the  divine  oftice  ;"  the  visitation  of  the 
poor  and  sick,  of  hospitals  and  prisons  ;  self-examination,  fol- 
lowed by  prayer  together  at  night  and  retiring  to  rest  at  nine 
o'clock. 

Henry  Michael  Buch,  the  founder  of  this  remarkable  society 
with  its  offshoots  all  over  Western  Europe,  succeeded  in  mak- 
ing the  title  Sons  of  Crispin  something  more  than  a  name  in 
the  case  of  thousands  of  his  brother  workmen.  Bearing  in 
mind  his  humble  birth  and  training,  his  scanty  means,  his  so- 
cial position,  the  unpromising  materials  he  had  to  work  with,  it 
will  be  allowed  that  the  moral  reform  he  inaugurated  among 
working-men  deserves  to  be  classed  among  the  best  things  of 

*  Butler's  "Lives  of  the  Primitive  Fathers,  Martyrs,  and  Saints," 
1799,  p.  532. 

f  This  society  nourished  until  the  outbreak  of  the  French  Revolu- 
tion, 1789,  when  it  was  suppressed. 


HANS   SACHS.  203 

the  kind  of  which  we  read  in  history.  Buch  died  at  Paris  on 
the  9th  June,  1666,  and  was  buried  in  the  churchyard  of  St. 
Gervaise.  * 


GERMANY. 


HANS    SACHS,    THE    NIGHTINGALE    OF    THE 
REFORMATION. 

BEFORE  Good  Henry's  day  two  famous  shoemakers  had  ap- 
peared in  Germany,  whose  names  are  now  much  better  known 
than  his  :  Hans  Sachs,  the  shoemaker-poet  of  the  Refoimation, 
and  Jacob  Boehmen,  the  mystic. 

Hans  Sachs  was  the  son  of  a  tailor  at  Nuremberg,  and  was 
born  November  5th,  ]  494.  At  the  age  of  fifteen  he  was  put 
apprentice  in  his  native  town.  His  schooling  had  been  but  slight, 
but  he  managed  after  school-days  were  passed  to  retain  and  add 
to  the  little  he  had  learned.  His  studies  as  an  apprentice  soon 
lifted  him  considerably  above  the  level  of  his  class.  All  his 
spare  time  was  given  to. poetry  and  music,  in  which  arts  he  was 
greatly  assisted  by  a  clever  fellow  named  Nunnenbeck;  a  weaver 
in  the  city.  On  attaining  -his  majority,  Sachs,  after  the  fashion 
of  the  time,  travelled  as  a  workman  from  town  to  town  through- 
out Germany,  in  order  to  learn  his  trade  perfectly  and  see  what 
he  could  of  the  wide  world  around  him.  In  this  expedition  he 
^seems  to  have  thought  as  much  of  poetry  as  of  shoernaking,  for 

*  If  this  were  a  history  of  the  craft  and  trade  of  shoemaking,  atten- 
tion might  be  called  to  the  genuinely  illustrious  shoemaker,  Nicholas 
Lestage  of  Bordeaux.  This  clever  artisan  having  made  a  remarkably 
fine  pair  of  boots,  presented  them  to  the  king,  Louis  XIV.,  on  his  visit 
to  Bordeaux,  shortly  before  his  marriage  to  the  Infanta  of  Spain. 
The  fortunate  son  of  Crispin  was  made  shoemaker  to  his  Majesty,  and 
rose  rapidly  to  wealth  and  favor  at  court.  In  1663  he  presented  to  his 
royal  patron  the  famous  boot  "  without  a  seam, "  which  was  spoken  of 
as  a  "  miracle  of  art,"  and  of  which  it  was  declared  that  "the  name  of 
a  boot  would  fill  the  world."  About  a  dozen  years  after  Lestage  suc- 
ceeded in  making  this  wonderful  seamless  boot,  a  small  book  of  poems 
was  written  to  commemorate  the  extraordinary  achievement.  Among 
other  extravagant  things  said  about  "  cette  admirable  chaussure,"  it 
was  affirmed  that  "neither  antiquity  nor  the  sun  had  ever  seen  its 
equal,"  "that  man  was  not  its  inventor,"  and  its  structure  was  truly 
divine  /"  etc. 


204  ILLUSTRIOUS   SHOEMAKERS. 

lie  never  omitted,  wherever  he  went,  visiting  the  little  poetical 
and  musical  societies  which  then  existed  in  nearly  every  town 
in  Germany.  These  societies  were  formed  by  the  various  trades 
guilds,  and  their  members  were  called  meister  singers. 

On  his  return  from  this  tour,  Sachs  settled  down  to  work  in 
Nuremberg,  and  proved  himself  both  an  expert  shoemaker  and 
a  first-rate  meistersinger.  In  fact,  he  outshone  all  his  com 
peers  of  the  guild  to  which  he  belonged,  and  it  was  not  long 
before  he  earned  the  reputation  of  being  the  first  German  poet 
of  his  day.  The  Reformation  movement,  led  by  Martin 
Luther,  was  then  in  full  vigor,  and  found  a  hearty  sympathizer 
and  vigorous  supporter  in  this  "  unlettered  cobbler  but  richly 
gifted  poet,"  who  was  counted  among  the  friends  and  admirers 
of  the  great  Reformer.  Luther  had  few  more  valuable  support- 
ers in  his  work  than  the  shoemaker  of  Nuremberg,  whose  sim- 
ple, spirit-stirring  songs  were  rapidly  learned  and  readily  sung 
by  the  humbler  sorts  of  people  all  over  the  country. 

Sachs'  writings  were  very  numerous,  both  in  prose  and 
verse.  Few  poets,  indeed,  have  ventured  to  write  and  pub- 
lish so  much.  He  averaged  more  than  a  volume  a  year  for 
over  thirty  years.  On  an  inventory  being  made  of  his  literary 
stock  in  the  year  1546,  when  he  was  about  fifty -two  years  of 
age,  it  was  found  that  he  had  written  34  volumes,  containing 
4275  songs,  208  comedies  and  tragedies,  about  1700  merry 
tales,  and  secular  and  religious  dialogues,  and  73  other  pieces. 

His  best  writings  are  said  to  be  the  "  Schwanke"  or  merry 
tales,  the  humor  of  which  is  sometimes  unsurpassable.  His  col- 
lected works  were  published  by  Wilier,  1570-79,  in  five  folio 
volumes. 

Exactly  two  hundred  years  after  Hans  Sachs'  death,  Goethe,* 
who  was  a  warm  admirer  of  the  shoemaker-poet,  published  a 
poem  entitled  Hans  Sacks  Erklarung  eines  alien  Holzschnitts, 
vorstellend  Hans  Sachs'  poetische  Sendung  (Explanation  of  an 
old  woodcut  representing  Hans  Sachs'  poetical  mission).  This 
tribute  from  the  pen  of  Germany's  greatest  poet  brought  the 
shoemaker  of  Nuremberg  again  into  notice,  and  put  him  in  the 
right  place  in  the  temple  of  fame.  Since  the  date  of  Goethe's 
poem,  Sachs'  works  have  been  published  in  various  forms,  and 
are  now  as  much  read  and  as  warmly  appreciated  as  when  they 
were  first  published.  Nuremberg,  his  native  town,  is  proud  of 
her  humble  yet  illustrious  poet,  and  treasures  up  in  her  museum 
every  relic  connected  with  his  name,  MS.  copies  of  his  writings, 
poetical  fly-sheets  issued  during  his  lifetime,  or  early  editions 


JACOB   BOEHMEN.  205 

of  his  works.  In  the  libraries  of  Zwickau,  Dresden,  and  Leip- 
sic  similar  relics  of  the  poet  may  be  seen. 

No  testimony  to  his  merit  could  be  higher  than  that  of 
Goethe,  the  prince  of  German  critics  in  literature.  It  may  be 
of  value,  however,  in  addition  to  this,  to  give  the  opinion  of 
two  very  different  men  respecting  Sachs.  Dr.  Hagenbach  in 
his  "  History  of  the  Reformation"  says  :  "  A  happy  union  of 
wholesome  humor  and  moral  purity  meets  us  in  Hans  Sachs  of 
Nuremberg  ;"  and  Thomas  Carlyle,  in  his  own  style,  which 
happily  is  "  inimitable,"  speaks  of  him  as  a  "  gay,  childlike, 
devout,  solid  character — a?  man  neither  to  be  despised  nor 
patronized,  but  left  standing  on  his  own  basis  as  a  singular 
product,  and  legible  symbol,  and  clear  mirror  of  the  time 
and  country  where  he  lived." 

He  died  on  the  25th  of  January,  1576,  at  the  age  of  eighty- 
two,  in  full  mental  vigor.  He  was  busy  writing  verses  and 
tales  almost  to  the  last  days  of  his  life.  His  grave  is  still 
shown  in  the  churchyard  of  St.  John's,  Nuremberg. 


JACOB   BOEHMEN,  THE   MYSTIC. 

Jacob  Boehmen,  or  Boehme,  was  born  at  the  village  of  Alt- 
seidenberg,  near  Gorlitz,  in  Prussian  Silesia,  about  a  year  be- 
fore the  death  of  Hans  Sachs.  A  shoemaker  for  the  greater 
part  of  his  life,  Boehmen  devoted  the  powers  of  a  remarkable 
mind  to  philosophical  and  religious  speculation,  and  produced 
works  which,  notwithstanding  their  mystical  and  well-nigh 
unintelligible  character,  are  declared  by  some  of  the  best  authori- 
ties in  Germany  and  England  to  have  laid  the  foundation  of 
metaphysics  and  philosophy.  It  is  impossible  to  give  a  true 
idea  of  the  writings  of  this  extraordinary  man  except  by  a  com- 
plete review  of  his  philosophy  and  its  influence  on  German 
philosophical  writers.  The  most  contradictory  opinions  have 
been  expressed  in  regard  to  the  value  of  his  productions.  By 
some  critics  he  is  set  down  as  a  rhapsodist  who  wrote  nothing 
but  mystical  jargon,  and  by  others  as  a  profound  philosopher 
whose  thoughts  and  dreams  are  full  of  inspiration.  Mosheirn, 
e.g.,  says  :  "  It  is  impossible  to  find  greater  obscurity  than 
there  is  in  these  pitiable  writings,  which  exhibit  an  incongruous 
mixture  of  chemical  terms,  mystical  jargon,  and  absurd  vis- 
ions." On  the  other  hand,  it  is  curious  to  read  the  opinions 
expressed  by  our  own  King  Charles  I.,  who  of  all  the  Stuarts, 


206  ILLUSTRIOUS   SHOEMAKERS. 

not  excepting  his  own  father,  Jarnes  L,  that  *'  so  learned  and 
judicious  a  prince, "  was  most  capable  of  being  a  judge  in  such 
matters.  Charles  is  reported  to  have  said  of  the  writings  of  the 
shoemaker  of  Gorlitz  :  **  Had  they  been  the  productions  of  a 
scholar  and  a  man  of  learning,  they  would  have  been  truly  won- 
derful ;  but  if,  as  he  heard,  they  were  the  productions  of  a 
poor  shoemaker,  they  furnished  a  proof  that  the  Holy  Ghost 
had  still  a  habitation  in  the  souls  of  men." 

Sir  Isaac  Newton  was  a  student  of  Boehmcn,  whose  disserta- 
tion on  "  The  Three  Principles"  is  said  to  have  furnished  hints 
to  the  philosopher  which  put  him  on  the  track  of  some  of  his 
great  discoveries  ;  and  Blake,  the  half-mad,  half-inspired  poet, 
painter,  and  engraver,  frequently  spoke  of  him  as  a  divinely  in- 
spired man.  Before  Blake's  day  the  writings  of  Boehrnen  had 
been  translated  by  William  Law,  author  of  "  The  Serious 
Call,"  and  published  by  Ward  &  Co.  in  two  quarto  volumes 
(1762-84).  Law's  writings  had  immense  influence  over  the 
minds  of  John  and  Charles  Wesley,  and  their  followers,  the 
Methodists.  Law,  who  was  no  mean  judge  of  the  worth  of 
Boehinen's  writings,  held  them  in  high  esteem. 

But  of  more  value  than  these  opinions  is  the  estimate  formed 
by  philosophers  themselves  as  to  the  works  of  this  great  mystic. 
Spinoza  frequently  studied  them,  and  acknowledged  their  influ- 
ence on  his  own  mind.  Schelling,  the  idealist  philosopher, 
bears  testimony  to  Boehinen's  great  merits  as  a  thinker.  Hegel 
speaks  of  him  as  the  4i  Teutonic  philosopher,"  and  adds,  "  In 
reality,  through  him,  for  the  first  time,  did  philosophy  in  Ger- 
many come  forward  with  a  characteristic  stamp."  S.  T.  Cole- 
ridge in  his  "  Literary  Remains"*  says:  "  I  have  often 
thought  of  writing  a  book  to  be  entitled  4  A  Vindication  of 
Great  Men  Unjustly  Branded/  and  at  such  times  the  names 
prominent  to  my  mind's  eye  have  been  Giordano  Bruno,  Jacob 
Boehmen,  Benedict  Spinoza,  and  Emanuel  Swedenborg."  In 
the  library  of  Manchester  New  College,  London,  is  a  copy  of 
the  works  of  Spinoza  with  marginal  notes  written  by  Cole- 
ridge, f  and  among  them  is  the  following  note  to  Epistle 
xxxvi.  :  "  The  truth  is,  Spinoza,  in  common  with  all  metaphy- 
sicians before  him  (Boehrne  perhaps  excepted),  began  at  the 
wrong  end,"  etc.,  etc.  Coleridge  frequently  spoke  of  Boeh- 
men in  the  warmest  terms  of  admiration. 

*  Vol.  iv.  p.  423. 

j-  This  book  once  belonged  to  Henry  Crabb  Robinson  :  see  H.  C. 
B.  B  Diary,  etc.,  vol.  i.  pp.  400,  401,  for  the  above  quotation. 


GABRIEL  CAPPELLiKI.  207 

At  a  very  early  age  Jacob  Boehmen  showed  a  disposition  to 
pious  meditation  and  fancied  himself  inspired.  He  was  poorly 
educated  as  a  youth,  and  nearly  all  his  knowledge  was  self- 
acquired.  His  first  work  was  published  when  he  was  thirty- 
seven  years  of  age,  and  was  entitled  "  Aurora/'  or  the  morning 
dawn.  He  was  severely  attacked  by  the  religious  leaders  of 
his  day,  but  the  court  at  Dresden  patronized  and  protected  him. 
His  death  took  place  November  27th,  1624.  His  works  have 
been  frequently  published  in  Germany,  Holland,  and  England, 
where  they  are  much  more  warmly  appreciated  now  than  they 
were  in  his  own  lifetime. 


ITALY. 


GABRIEL  CAPPELLTNT,  IL  CALIGARINO,  OR  THE 
LITTLE  SHOEMAKER. 

IF  it  be  characteristic  of  Germany  that  one  of  her  illustrious 
shoemakers  should  be  a  poet  and  another  &  philosopher,  it  is  no 
less  characteristic  of  Itafy  and  Holland  that  several  followers  of 
the  gentle  craft  in  these  countries  should  have  distinguished 
themselves  as  painters.  We  take  three  examples  from  the  six- 
teenth and  seventeenth  centuries. 

Gabriel  Cappellini  of  Ferrara  in  Italy  was  more  generally 
known  by  the  ^appellation  //  Caligarino,  or  the  little  shoe- 
maker, a  name  derived  from  his  original  occupation.  He  is 
said  to  have  been  led  to  throw  down  the  awl  and  take  to  the 
brush  in  consequence  of  a  compliment  paid  to  him  one  day  by 
one  of  the  great  family  of  painters  called  Dossi,  who  told  the 
shoemaker  that  a  pair  of  shoes  he  had  just  made  were  so  ele- 
gant that  they  looked  as  if  they  had  been  painted.  He  became 
a  scholar  of  Dossi,  and  made  a  fair  name  as  an  artist  in  the 
sixteenth  century.  He  is  praised  by  Barotti  for  <c  the  bold- 
ness of  his  design  and  the  sobriety  of  his  color. M  Several  of 
his  paintings  may  now  be  seen  in  the  city  of  Ferrara,  the  best 
of  which  is  in  the  Church  of  St.  Giovannino.  This  is  an 
altar-piece  representing  the  Virgin  and  Child  with  infant  saints 
attending  upon  them.  In  the  Church  of  St.  Francesco  is  a 


208  ILLUSTRIOUS   SHOEMAKERS. 

painting  of  SS.  John  and  James.  There  is  also  an  altar-piece 
ascribed  to  him  in  the  Church  of  St.  Alesandro  at  Bergamo, 
representing  the  Last  Supper.  A  small  painting  of  the  same 
subject  is  in  the  possession  of  Count  Carrara.* 


FRANCESCO  BRIZZIO,  THE  ARTIST. 

Francesco  Brizzio  (or  Briccio)  was  the  most  eminent  of  the 
three  painters  we  have  to  name  who  began  life  as  shoemakers. 
He  was  born  at  Bologna  in  1574.  Up  to  the  age  of  twenty  he 
worked  as  a  shoemaker,  and  then,  being  free  to  follow  his  bent, 
became  at  first  a  pupil  of  Passerotti,  who"  taught  him  design, 
afterward  of  Agostini,  who  initiated  him  in  the  engraver's  art, 
and  finally  of  Lodovico  Caracci,  under  whom  he  became  so 
proficient  that  "  by  some  he  has  been  pronounced  the  most 
eminent  disciple  of  Caracci  ;"  and  it  has  been  affirmed  of  this 
son  of  Crispin  that  of  all  Caracci 's  pupils  except  Domenichino 
he  was  gifted  with  the  most  universal  genius.  In  perspective, 
landscape,  architecture,  and  figures,  a  competent  critic,  Andrea 
Sacchi,  the  famous  Roman  artist,  says,  "  Brizzio  surpassed  all 
his  rivals."  Guido  speaks  highly  of  the  beauty  of  his  cherubs. 
His  extant  paintings  are  an  altar-piece  entitled  4t  The  Corona- 
tion of  the  Virgin,77  which  is  very  rich  in  coloring,  and  the 
"  Table  of  Cebes,"  a  grand  painting  executed  for  the  Angellili 
family.  Numerous  engravings  of  his -are  known  to  connois- 
seurs, and  highly  prized  as  the  work  of  an  artist  "  who  often 
approaches  Guido. "  "  His  pictures  were  not  only  admired 
for  the  truth  of  the  perspective  and  the  beauty  of  his  color- 
ing, but  also  for  the  grandeur  of  his  ideas,  the  majestic  style 
of  the  architecture,  the  elegance  of  the  ornaments,  and  the 
noble  taste  of  the  landscapes  which  he  introduced  to  set  off  his 
buildings.77  Brizzio  died  in  1623  at  the  age  of  forty-nine. f 

*  Lanzi's  "  History  of  Painting."  London  :  Bohn,  vol.  iii.  p.  200  , 
and  Bryan's  "Dictionary  of  Painters."  London  :  Bohn,  p.  138. 

f  Lanzi's  "History  of  Painting."  London  :  Bohn,  vol.  iii.  p.  126  ; 
Bryan's  "Dictionary  of  Painters."  London  :  Bohn,  p.  114  ;  and 
PilkiDgton's  "Dictionary  of  Painters,"  p.  95  (1770  ed.). 


HOLLAND. 


LUDOLPH  DE  JONG,  THE  DUTCH  PORTRAIT- 
PAINTER. 

LUDOLPH  DE  JONG,  was  the  son  of  a  shoemaker  at  Oberschie, 
a  village  near  Rotterdam,  and  was  born  in  the  year  1616.  His 
father  intended  to  bring  his  son  up  to  his  own  humble  trade, 
but  having  been  treated  with  great  severity,  Ludolph  ran  away 
from  home  and  bade  good-by  to  the  cobbler's  stall,  and 
became  soon  afterward  a  pupil  of  Sacht  Coen.  After  two 
years  spent  with  this  master,  he  also  studied  under  Palamedes 
at  Delft  and  Baylaert  at  Utrecht.  Seven  years  of  his  life  were 
spent  in  France,  where  he  gained  renown  as  a  portrait-painter, 
in  which  branch  of  art  he  showed  his  best  hand.  From 
France  he  returned  to  Holland  and  settled  at  Rotterdam, 
where  his  skill  and  fame  gained  him  much  patronage  and  a 
handsome  fortune.  His  best  work  is  at  Rotterdam  in  the 
Salle  des  Princes,  and  consists  of  portraits  of  officers  belonging 
to  the  Company  of  Burghers. 

De  Jong  the  younger,  the  clever  etcher  of  battle-scenes, 
who  signs  himself  IMDI  (Jan  Martss  de  Jong),  is  generally 
thought  to  be  the  son  of  the  well-known  painter.* 


SONS   OF  SHOEMAKERS. 

Before  leaving  the  continent  of  Europe  to  corne  to  Great  Britain  for 
examples,  we  may  here  mention  one  or  two  instances  in  which  boys 
who  have  been  brought  up  amid  the  humble  surroundings  of  the 
shoemaker's  home  have  become  illustrious  in  the  field  of  literature, 
or  science,  or  theology. 

Pope  John  XXII.  (1316-1334),  whose  popedom  was  distinguished 
by  the  existence  of  an  anti-pope,  was  the  son  of  a  shoemaker  living  at 
Cahors  in  France. 

Jean  Bapiiste  Rousseau  (1670-1741),  the  French  poet,  author  of  "  Le 
Cafe,"  "  Jason, "  "Adonais,"  "  Le  Flatteur,"  etc.,  was  the  son  of  a 
well-to-do  shoemaker  in  Paris.  The  poet  was  always  rather  ashamed 
of  his  origin,  and  on  one  occasion  treated  his  father  in  the  most  heart- 
less manner  because  he  stepped  forward  at  the  conclusion  of  the  first 
performance  of  a  play  to  offer  his  warm  congratulations  to  his  clever 
and  popular  son.  "I  know  you  not,"  said  the  proud  poet,  waving 

*  Sons  of  shoemakers  have  often  become  famous.  See  the  list  given 
below,  which  might  be  greatly  extended. 


210  ILLUSTRIOUS   SHOEMAKERS. 


his  father  off.  The  poor  fellow  retired  in  bitter  grief  and  uncontrol- 
lable anger. 

Johan  Joachim  Wincklemann,  the  eminent  art  critic  and  writer,  was 
the  sou  of  a  humble  member  of  the  craft,  who  lived  at  Stendal  in 
Prussia.  His  father  gave  him  as  good  an  education  as  lay  within  his 
reach,  and  was  rewarded  by  the  progress  his  son  made  in  the  study 
of  languages.  From  the  position  of  teacher  of  languages  in  the  Col- 
lege of  Seehausen  he  passed  on  to  that  of  librarian  to  Count  Bunan, 
and  finally  to  the  curatorship  of  the  Vatican  Museum  at  Home,  where 
he  published  his  famous  works,  "  Ancient  Statues,"  "Taste  of  the 
Greek  Artists, "  "  History  of  Art,"  and  "Antique  Monuments."  He 
died  by  the  hand  of  an  assassin  at  Trieste,  1768,  aged  fifty-two. 

Hans  Christian  Andersen  was  born  in  1805,  at  Adense  in  Denmark, 
where  his  father  worked  as  a  shoemaker.  While  a  mere  boy  he  went 
to  Copenhagen  in  the  hope  of  getting  his  living  as  a  singer  and  writer 
of  plays,  and  eventually  became  known  as  the  writer  of  incomparable 
fairy  tales,  the  joy  and  wonder  of  children,  young  and  old,  all  over 
the  world. 

The  name  of  Dr.  Isaac  Watts,  the  hymnist,  has  sometimes  been  set 
down  in  this  category,  on  the  authority  of  a  line  in  Dr.  Johnson's 
"Lives  of  the  Poets."  But  Johnson  speaks  only  of  "  common  re- 

Eort, "  making  the  father  of  Isaac  Watts  a  shoemaker.     Johnson  says 
e  "kept  a  boarding-school  for  young  gentlemen."     He  may  have 
done  so  and  followed  the  gentle  craft  as  well  ;  there  is  no  knowing 
to  what  occupation  the  shoemaker  may  aspire  ! 

If  we  go  far  enough  back,  we  may  find  a  very  striking  example  of 
ability  displayed  by  a  shoemaker's  son  in  military  affairs.  Jphicrates 
(4th  cent.  B.C.),  one  of  the  most  capable  and  trusted  Athenian  generals, 
rose  from  this  humble  position  to  the  highest  offices  of  command  and 
trust  in  the  armies  of  Greece.  His  reforms  in  the  arms,  dress,  and 
tactics  of  the  soldiers,  formed  an  "  epoch  in  the  Grecian  art  of  war." 
He  distinguished  himself  in  battles  fought  against  the  Thracians  and 
Spartans,  and  in  the  service  of  the  King  of  Persia  in  his  Egyptian 
campaign. 


GREAT  BRITAIN. 


"YE  COCKE  OF  WESTMINSTER. " 

COMING  now  to  Great  Britain,  we  are  able  to  select  from  the 
records  of  history  and  biography  illustrations  for  our  purpose 
which  represent  pretty  nearly  all  the  varieties  of  English  life. 
Practical  philanthropy  all  men  will  allow  to  be  one  of  the  most 
prominent  and  honorable  features  of  the  national  character, 
and  to  this  shoemakers  have  contributed  a  good  share.  Our 


;*  YE   COCKE  OR  WESTMINSTER."  *11 

readers  will  remember  the  good  work  done  by  Drs.  Carey 
and  Morrison,  the  pioneer  missionaries  to  India  and  China, 
and  noble  old  John  Pounds,  one  of  the  founders  of  ragged 
schools  in  this  country.  Two  examples,  in  a  different  field,  may 
be  given  here.  One  can  easily  understand  how  shoemaking 
would  pay  better  before  the  invention  of  machinery  than  it 
does  now,  yet  it  appears  strange  to  us  to  read  of  men  making 
anything  like  a  fortune  by  so  humble  a  craft.  So  it  was,  how- 
ever, after  a  certain  modest  fashion  ;  and  shoemakers,  like  men 
whose  fortune  has  been  made  on  a  larger  scale,  have  shown 
themselves  veritable  philanthropists  in  the  use  they  have  made 
of  their  money.  The  two  instances  we  refer  to  are  wide  apart 
as  to  time, but  closely  related  as  regards  the  benevolent  spirit 
they  exhibit.  Holinshed  has  very  properly  thought  it  wortli 
his  while  to  chronicle  the  good  deed  of  a  benevolent  old  shoe- 
maker who  lived  in  Westminster  in  the  reign  of  Edward  VL 
This  true  son  and  follower  of  Crispin  bore  the  name  of  Richard 
Castell,  but  was  still  better  known,  in  his  own  day,  by  the 
sobriquet,  Ye  Cockeof  Westminster,  not  only  "  because  he  was 
so  famous  with  the  faculty  of  his  hands,"  but  on  account  of 
his  early  rising  ;  for  every  morning,  all  the  year  round,  saw 
him  sitting  down  to  his  work  "  at  four  of  the  clock."  His 
skill  and  diligence  in  the  craft  brought  him  in  a  considerable 
sum  of  money,  which  he  invested  in  lands  and  tenements  in  the 
neighborhood  of  Westminster,  yielding  a  yearly  rental  of  £42 
— not  at  all  a  poor  living  for  a  retired  shoemaker  three  hundred 
years  ago.  It  appears  that  Castell  greatly  admired  the  gener- 
osity of  his  monarch,  Edward  VI. ,  who  had  recently  endowed 
Christ's  Hospital,  and  the  shoemaker  having  no  family  to 
whom  he  could  bequeath  his  property,  and  being  blessed, 
moreover,  with  a  wife  as  generously  disposed  as  himself,  resolv- 
ed to  leave  his  property  to  the  endowment  fund  of  this  public 
charity.  It  is  much  more  than  probable  that  the  fame  of  the 
kingly  founder  of  the  hospital  has  totally  eclipsed  that  of  his 
humble  subject,  and  for  this  reason  it  seems  right  for  us  to 
find  a  place  in  our  list  of  illustrious  shoemakers  for  a  worthy 
man  whose  industry  and  benevolence  are  bearing  good  fruit  to 
this  day,  and  who  once,  it  may  be,  was  not  a  little  proud  of 
the  honorable  nickname  of  Ye  Cocke  of  Westminster.* 


*For  this  and  one  or  two  other  examples  of  noted  shoemakers  the 
writer  is  indebted  to  a  series  of  most  interesting  articles  entitled 
"  Concerning  Shoes  and  Shoemakers,"  in  the  Leisure  Hour,  1876. 


212  ILLUSTRIOUS   SHOEMAKERS. 


TIMOTHY   BENNETT,  THE   HERO  OF  HAMPTON- 
WICK. 

It  would  be  hard  to  find  a  name  more  worthy  of  being  enroll- 
ed in  our  Jist  than  that  of  the  public-spirited  and  courageous 
shoemaker  of  Hampton- Wick  in  Surrey  named  Timothy 
Bennett,*  who,  early  rn  the  last  century,  undertook,  at  his 
own  cost,  to  rescue  a  right  of  road  from  loss  to  the  public. 
This  road  ran  from  Hampton- Wick  to  Kingston- upon-Thames 
through  the  well-known  Bushy  Park,  belonging  to  the  Crown. 
Bennett  was  grieved  to  see  the  right  of  way  infringed  by  the 
Crown  authorities,  and  to  observe  the  consequent  inconven- 
ience to  thousands  of  his  neighbors.  He  determined,  there- 
fore, to  go  to  law  about  the  matter,  and,  if  possible,  put  a  stop 
to  the  high-handed  and  unjust  proceedings  of  the  "  Ranger  of 
the  Park."  He  went  to  a  lawyer  and  inquired  as  to  the  prob- 
able chances  of  success  in  his  project,  and  as  to  the  cost,  sav- 
ing, "  I  have  seven  hundred  pounds  which  I  would  be  willing 
to  bestow  upon  this  attempt.  It  is  all  1  have,  and  has  been 
saved  through  a  long  course  of  honest  industry."  Satisfied  on 
both  points,  he  resolved  to  carry  out  his  plan.  Lord  Halifax 
was  then  Ranger  of  Bushy  Park,  and  having  heard  of  Ben- 
nett's intentions,  sent  for  him.  4k  Who  are  you,  sir,"  de- 
manded my  lord,  "  that  have  the  assurance  to  meddle  in  this 
affair?"  "My  name,  my  lord,  is  Timothy  Bennett,  shoe- 
maker, of  Hampton- Wick.  I  remember,  an't  please  your  Lord- 
ship, when  I  was  a  young  man,  of  seeing,  while  sitting  at  my 
work,  the  people  cheerfully  pass  by  to  Kensington  market  ;  but 
now,  my  lord,  they  arc  forced  to  go  round  about,  through  a  hot 
sandy  road,  ready  to  faint  beneath  their  burdens,  and  I  am 
unwilling"(using  a  phrase  he  was  very  fond  of)  "  to  leave  the 
world  worse  than  I  found  it.  This,  my  lord,  I  humbly  repre- 
sent, is  the  reason  of  my  conduct."  "  Be  gone  !  You  are  an 
impertinent  fellow  1"  said  the  Ranger  of  Bushy  Park.  After 
thinking  the  matter  over  in  a  calmer  mood,  Lord  Halifax  saw 
the  equity  of  the  shoemaker's  claim,  and  the  certainty  of  his 
own  failure  to  justify  his  conduct,  and  gave  up  his  opposition. 
The  road  was  opened,  and  remains  open  to  this  day,  and  is 
used  not  only  by  those  who  pass  on  business  between  Hampton 
and  Kingston,  but  by  thousands  of  pleasure-seekers  from  the 

*  Born  1676  ;  died  1756.  Bennett  is  placed  out  of  his  chronological 
order  because  it  seeins  most  fitting  that  he  should  follow  the  benevo- 
lent Castell. 


"THE  SORTERS  OF  SELKIRK."  213 

busy  and  smoke-laden  metropolis,  who  run  down  by  rail  in  the 
spring  and  summer  to  enjoy  the  sight  of  one  of  the  finest 
avenues  of  chestnut-trees  in  the  world,  or  to  breathe  the  sweet 
country  air,  and  rest  beneath  the  refreshing  shade  of  the  trees 
of  the  park.  The  good  people  who  make  constant  use  of  the 
road,  which  the  worthy  shoemaker  has  secured  to  them  and 
their  descendants  forever,  can  hardly  be  ignorant  of  the  story 
of  LORD  HALIFAX  THE  NOBLEMAN  nonsuited  by  TIMOTHY 
BENNETT  THE  SHOEMAKER  ;  yet  the  stranger  who  goes  down  to 
the  Park  in  May  to  see 

"  The  chestnuts  with  their  milky  cones," 
will  probably  never  have  heard  of  this 

"  Village  Hampden,  that  with  dauntless  breast 
The  little  tyrant  of  his  fields  withstood." 

Bennett  died  an  old  man  in  1756,  having  had  his  wish,  at 
least,  to  leave  the  world  no  worse  than  he  found  it.  Assuredly 
many  who  have  more  fame  have  done  less  to  merit  it. 


MILITARY    AND    NAVAL    HEROES. 

"  THE  SOUTEKS  OF  SELKIRK." 

The  old  Border  song,  sung  at  public  dinners  "  when  Selkirk 
folks  began  to  be  merry" — 

•'  Up  wi'  the  souters  of  Selkirk, 

And  down  wi'  the  Earl  of  Home  ; 
And  up  wi'  a'  the  braw  lads 
That  sew  the  single  shoon. 

"  Fye  upon  yellow  and  yellow, 

And  fye  upon  yellow  and  green, 
And  up  wi'  the  true  blue  and  scarlet, 
And  up  wi'  the  single-soled  sheen. 

"  Up  wi'  the  souters  o'  Selkirk, 

For  they  are  baith  trusty  and  leal  ; 
And  up  wi'  the  men  o'  the  Forest,  * 
And  down  wi1  the  Merse  |  to  the  deil," 

*  Selkirkshire,  otherwise  called  Ettrick  Forest 
f  Berwickshire,  otherwise,  called  the  Merse. 


214:  ILLUSTIUOUS   SHOEMAKERS. 

has  made  the  * '  Souters  of  Selkirk' '  famous  throughout  Scotland. 
The  origin  of  the  song  seems  to  be  lost.  'Whether  it  has  refer- 
ence, as  the  common  tradition  in  Selkirk  goes,  to  the  part  which 
a  gallant  band  of  Selkirk  men  played  at  the  battle  of  Flodden 
Field,  1513,  "  when  the  flower  of  the  Scottish  nobility  fell  around 
their  sovereign,  James  IV.,"  which  Sir  Walter  Scott  and  Mr. 
Plummer  assert,*  or  to  "  a  bet  between  the  Philiphaugh  and 
Home  families"  on  a  match  of  football  4t  between  the  souters 
u>r  shoemakers)  of  Selkirk  against  the  men  of  Home,"  as  Mr. 
Robertson  in  his  "  Essay  on  Scottish  Song"  declares,  it  is  not 
easy  to  determine.  At  any  rate,  whether  the  song  point  to  the 
historical  event  or  not,  the  event  itself  is  beyond  dispute.  Sel- 
kirk  did  certainly  send  a  brave  band  of  eighty  or  a  hundred 
men  to  Flodden  Field  to  support  the  cause  of  James.  No 
doubt  a  large  proportion  of  these  men  were  veritable  souters, 
for  the  chief  trade  of  the  town  in  the  sixteenth  century  was 
the  making  of  "  a  sort  of  brogues  with  a  single  thin  sole." 
This  local  manufacture  seems  to  have  given  a  name  to  the  in- 
habitants of  the  burgh,  who  were  called  souters,  pretty  much  as 
natives  of  Sheffield  might  be  called  blades,  or  Birmingham 
folk  buttons.  The  people  of  Selkirk  are  not  ashamed  of  the 
designation,  but  rather  glory  in  perpetuating  the  name  and  the 
tradition  on  which  it  rests.  "  A  singular  custom,"  we  are 
told,  is  observed  at  conferring  the  freedom  of  the  burgh. 
Four  or  five  bristles,  such  as  are  used  by  shoemakers,  are  at- 
tached to  the  seal  of  the  burgess  ticket.  These  the  new-made 
burgess  must  dip  in  his  wine  and  pass  through  his  mouth,  in 
token  of  respect  for  the  Souters  of  Selkirk.  This  ceremony  is 
on  no  account  dispensed  with.j- 

WATT   TINLINN. 

That  the  souters  of  that  time  knew  how  to  fight  and  win  re- 
nown by  their  valor  and  skill  may  be  gathered  from  the  story 
which  the  author  of  "  The  Lay  of  the  Last  Minstrel"  tells  us 
anent  the  reference  to  Watt  of  Liddelside  in  the  fourth  canto 
of  the  "Lay"  : 

"  Now  loud  the  heedful  gateward  cried, 
'  Prepare  ye  all  for  blows  and  blood  ! 
Watt  Tinliim  from  the  Liddelside 
Comes  wading  through  the  flood. 

*  See  "Border  Minstrelsy." 

•(•Scott's  "Border  Minstrelsy,"  foot-note. 


COLONEL   HEWSON.  215 

'Full  oft  the  Tynedale  snatchers  knock 
At  his  lone  gate  and  prove  the  lock  ; 
It  was  but  last  St.  Barnabright 
They  sieged  him  a  whole  summer  night, 
But  fled  at  morning  ;  well  they  knew 
In  vain  he  never  twanged  the  yew.' ' ' 

This  Watt  was  a  shoemaker  and  a  soldier,  and  if  he  had  no 
large  field  for  the  display  of  his  skill  and  valor  in  the  Border 
skirmishes  of  his  time,  he  nevertheless  deserves  a  place  among 
his  more  illustrious  brethren  of  the  craft,  if  only  for  the  sake 
of  the  following  note  respecting  him.  "  This  person  was  in 
my  younger  days,"  says  Sir  Walter  Scott,*  "  the  theme  of 
pmany  a  fireside  tale.  He  was  a  retainer  of  the  Buccleuch 
family,  and  held  for  his  Border  service  a  small  tower  on  the 
frontiers  of  Liddesdale.  Watt  was  by  profession  a  sutor,  but 
by  inclination  and  practice  an  archer  and  warrior.  Upon  one 
occasion,  the  captain  of  Bewcastle,  military  governor  of  that 
wild  district  of  Cumberland,  is  said  to  have  made  an  incursion 
into  Scotland,  in  which  he  was  defeated  and  forced  to  fly. 
Watt  Tinlinn  pursued  him  closely  through  a  dangerous  morass  ; 
the  captain,  however,  gained  the  firm  ground,  and  seeing 
Tinlinn  dismounted  and  floundering  in  the  bog,  used  these 
words  of  insult,  "  Sutor  Watt,  ye  cannot  sew  your  boots  ;  the 
heels  risp  and  the  seams  rive."  f  "  If  I  cannot  sew,"  retorted 
Tinlinn,  discharging  a  shaft  which  nailed  the  captain's  thigh  to 
his  saddle — "  if  I  cannot  sew  I  can  yerk."  J 


COLONEL   HEWSON,  THE   " CERDON "  OF    "  HUDIBRAS." 

In  the  turbulent  days  of  the  Stuarts  and  the  Commonwealth, 
when  the  lofty  were  laid  low  and  the  lowly  were  set  in  high 
places,  it  can  hardly  be  matter  of  surprise  that  the  shoemaker 
should  have  had  his  share  of  the  favors  of  fortune.  The  cir- 
cumstances of  the  time  had  led  to  the  adoption  of  the  rational 
rule  of  granting  promotion  by  merit.  In  an  army  commanded 
by  Cromwell  it  is  not  likely  that  any  other  rule  would  be 
adopted.  His  two  chief  requirements  were  military  capacity 
and  moral  character.  With  men  of  this  class  he  made  up  his 
invincible  Ironsides.  One  of  his  colonejs  was  John  Hewson. 
"  This  man,"  Grainger  says,  §  "  once  wore  a  leather  apron, 

*Note  IV.  to  Canto  IV.,  "Lay  of  the  Last  Minstrel." 

\  Risp  and  rive,  creak  and  tear. 

jf.  To  twitch  the  thread  as  shoemakers  do  in  securing  the  stitches. 

g  "  Biographical  History  of  England,"  vol.  hi. 


216  ILLUSTRIOUS   SHOEMAKERS. 

and  from  a  mender  of  old  shoes  became  a  reformer  of  govern- 
ment and  religion.  He  was,  allowing  for  his  education,  a  very 
extraordinary  person.  His  behavior  in  the  army  soon  raised 
him  to  the  rank  of  a  colonel  ;  and  Cromwell  had  so  great  an 
opinion  of  him  as  to  intrust  him  with  the  government  of  the 
city  of  Dublin,  whence  he  was  called  to  be  a  member  of  Bare- 
bones'*  parliament.  He  was  a  frequent  speaker  in  that  and 
the  other  parliament  of  which  he  was  a  member,  and  was  at 
length  thought  a  fit  person  to  be  a  lord  of  the  upper  house. 
He  was  one  of  the  committee  of  safety,  and  was,  with  several 
of  his  brethren,  very  intent  upon  a  new  model  of  the  republic 
at  the  eve  of  the  Restoration. "  Rugge,  in  his  "  Diurnal, "  5th 
December,  1659,  says  that  Hewson  4A  was  a  very  stout  man,* 
and  a  very  good  commander  ;"  and  adds,  "  But  in  regard  of 
his  former  employment,  they  (the  city  apprentices)  threw  at 
him  old  shoes  and  slippers,  and  turnip-tops  and  brickbats, 
stones  and  tiles."  He  was  the  object  of  no  end  of  lampoon- 
ing on  the  part  of  the  Royalists.  Pepys,  in  his  "  Diary," 
25th  January,  1659-60,  has  an  interesting  memorandum  in  re- 
gard to  the  notoriety  of  the  cobbler-colonel  :  li  Coming  home, 
heard  that  in  Cheapside  there  had  been  but  a  little  before  a 
gibbet  set  up,  and  a  picture  of  Huson  (Hewson)  hung  upon  it, 
in  the  middle  of  the  street."  f  One  of  these  squibs  bore  tho 
title,  *'  Colonel  Hewson's  Confession  ;  or,  a  Parley  with  Pluto," 
and  referred  to  his  removal  of  the  gates  of  Temple  Bar.  Lord 
Braybrooke  informs  us  that  Hewson  "  had  but  one  eye,  which 
did  not  escape  the  notice  of  his  enemies."  Nor  did  the  burly 
cobbler-colonel  escape  the  notice  of  Dr.  Butler,  who  makes 
him  a  conspicuous  figure  in  the  first  part  of  "  Hudibras"  J 
under  the  nickname  of  Cerdon  : 

"  The  upright  Cerdon  next  advanc'd, 
Of  all  his  race  the  valiant'st : 
Cerdon  the  Great,  renowned  in  song, 
Like  Herc'les,  for  repair  of  wrong. 

*  The  author  of  "Crispin  Anecdotes,"  p.  127,  says,  "Praise-God 
Barebones  was  a  shoemaker,  but  from  all  the  writer  can  learn  he  was 
si  leather-seller  ;  and  Bloomfield  is  reported  as  saying  that  Secretary 
Craggs  was  a  chip  of  leather.  On  what  authority  it  is  hard  to  say. 
His  father,  the  postmaster-general,  is  more  likely  to  have  been  in  such 
a  position  ;  but  his  trade  was  that  of  a  country  barber." — Grainger, 
Noble's  continuation,  vol.  iii. 

f  Pepys'  Diary,  note,  January  25th,  1659-60. 

{Part  I.  Canto  II.,  409-430,  etc. 


COLONEL   HEWSON. 

He  rais'd  the  low.  and  fortify' d 

The  weak  against  the  strongest  side  : 

111  has  he  read  that  never  hit  • 

On  him  in  Muses  deathless  writ. 

He  had  a  weapon  keen  and  fierce, 

That  through  a  bull -hide  shield  would  pierce, 

And  cut  it  in  a  thousand  pieces, 

Though  tougher  than  the  Knight  of  Greece  his, 

With  whom  his  black-thumb'd  ancestor 

Was  comrade  in  the  ten  years'  war. 

Fast  friend  he  was  to  reformation, 
Until  'twas  worn  quite  out  of  fashion  ; 
Next  rectifier  of  every  law, 

j  And  would  make  three  to  cure  one  flaw. 

Learned  he  was,  and  could  take  note, 
Transcribe,  collect,  translate,  and  quote."  * 

Later  on,f  Hudibras  describes  the  scene  at  the  bear-gardens 
when  Hewson  and  the  Puritan  party  endeavor  to  put  a  stop 
to  the  savage  sport  of  bear-baiting.  The  mob  turn  on  the  Puri- 
tans, but  as  for  the  fat  colonel — 

"  Quarter  he  scorns,  he  is  so  stout, 
And  therefore  cannot  long  hold  out." 

One  of  the  squibs  alluded  to  above  was  entitled  "  A  Hymn 
to  the  Gentle  Craft;  or,  Hewson's  Lamentation."  J  The 
reader  will  observe  that  Hewson's  one  eye  "  does  not  escape  the 
notice  of  his  enemies.'7  This  piece  was  sung  as  a  ballad  IE  the 
streets  : 

"  Listen  awhile  to  what  I  shall  say, 
Of  a  blind  cobbler  that's  gone  astray 
Out  of  the  Parliament's  highway. 
Good  people,  pity  the  blind  ! 

"  His  name  you  wot  well  is  Sir  John  Howson, 
Whom  I  intend  to  set  my  muse  on, 
As  great  a  warrior  as  Sir  Miles  Lewson. 
Good  people,  pity  the  blind  ! 

*'  He'd  now  give  all  the  shoes  in  his  shop 
The  Parliament's  fury  for  to  stop, 
Whip  cobbler  like  any  town-top. 
Good  people,  pity  the  blind  ! 

*Part  I.  Canto  II.,  409-430,  etc. 
fPart  I.  Canto  III.,  118,  119. 

\  Quoted  in  Chambers's  "  Book  of  Days, "  August  loth.  W.  &  R. 
Chambers,  Edinburgh, 


VIS  ILLCSTKlors    Mlnl.M  AKKItS. 


11  (  HivtT  made  him  a  laiiuuis  Lord, 
Thai    lie  I'ore.ol   his  euttituvboard, 
llul   fio\\    his  thread's  t  \\  isicd  to  a  cord, 
(!ood  people,  pity  (he  blind  ! 

"  Snii^  hi,  ho,   llewsoii  !      tlu>  slate  ne'er  went  upright, 
Since  eohhlers  eould   pray,    preach     govern,   and   lit'Jit    ; 
\\'e  shall  see  what  they'll  do  now  \oifre  out,  of  si-dit. 
(iood   people,    pity   tile  blind  !  ' 

Ila\ini;-  been  one  <d%   the  men    who  sat   in    judgment    on    I\in^ 

< 'harles  I.,  the  Colonel  was  with  other  regicides  condemned  to 

be    ImiiLj   October   l-lth,    llJtiO  ;*    but   he  is  said    to  have  escaped 
;1    l»y    Hi^'ht,  ami    to  have    d'u-il    at,    Ainsterdain  "  in    his 
ohsi-urity,"   HJiiiM 


SIR  OHBIBTOPHEB   MYNGS,    ADMIIIAL   OF   Tin:    KNCUSII 

PLBET, 

(liristophei-  M  viii^s  (or  Minns),  "  the  son  of  an  honest  shoe 
maker  in  London,  from  \shom  hi'  inherited  nothing  luit  a  n'ood 
constitution, "  |  is  said  to  have  worn  the  leathern  apron  for  ;i 
short-  time  before  he  went  to  sea.  Speaking  of  the  men  of 
humble  origin  who,  toward  the  end  of  the  se\  eiiteent  h  century, 
made  their  way  to  hi^h  otliee  hy  their  skill  and  hravery,  Lord 
Maea;i!av  says:  "One  of  the  most  eminent,  of  these  oilieers 
was  Sir  Christopher  Min^s,  who  entered  the  sen  ice  as  a.  cahin- 
boy,  who  fell  ti^htin^  l>ravelv  against  the  Putch,  and  whom 
his  crew,  weeping  and  voxvini;-  ven^i-anee,  carried  to  tin1  jjrave. 
From  him  sprang,  l»v  a  singular  kind  of  descent,  a  line  of  valiant 
and  expert  sailors.  Mis  cal>in-l>oy  was  Sir  John  NarbofOUgh, 
and  the  cahin-hov  of  Sir  John  Narhorou^h  was  Sir  ( 1lotnlesle\' 
Shovel.  To  the.  strong  natural  sense  ami  dauntless  courage  of 
this  class  of  men  Mn^laml  owes  a  debt  never  to  he  forgotten. '  'g 
Myn;;-s  knew  how  to  l>e  familiar  and  friendly  with  his  men,  and 
yet  to  keep  his  position  and  authority.  Seamen  learn  to  love 
hraverv,  and  of  this  they  saw  enough  in  their  gallant  Admiral. 
They  had  additional  reason  for  their  devotion  in  the  care  he 
always  took  to  see  them  well  paid  and  fed,  and  the  justice  he 
did  them  in  the  distribution  of  pri/es.  It  was  in  the  great  four 

*  Kvelyn's  "  hiary  "  of  this  date. 

}  IVpvs.  see  above. 

{  (i rammer's  ••  Itio^rnphii-al  History  of  Kiu;land,"  vol.  iii. 

i<  ••  History  of  I'.n-laiid.  '  vol.  i.  p.  ;">!('.  ^People's  Kdition). 


SIR  <:i!UisToi'iii;i;    MY  M;S.  ^1!) 

days'  ji.-dit  olT  the  l']n<dish  coast,,  June  1st  1th,  1  (',<;<;,  bet  ween 
the  Knidish  and  Dutch  Herts,  that,  this  brave  man  met,  with  his 
death.  The  Kn<dish  ileet,  was  commanded  by  the  Dnke  of 
Albemarlc  and  Prince  Rupert,  and  the  Dutch  by  he  liuyter 
and  Van  Tnmip  the  younger.  The  battle  was  one  of  the  tn<.  I 
memorable  on  record,  both  for  its  length  and  the  valor  dis- 
played on  both  sides.  44<>n  the  fourth  day  <>f  the  famous 
battle  that  bc^an  on  the  1st  of  .lime,  he  received  a  shot,  in  the 
neck  ;  after  which,  though  he  was  in  exquisite  pain,  he  con- 
tinued in  his  command,  holding  his  wound  with  both  his  hands 
for  above  an  hour.  At,  length  another  shot,  pierced  his  throat 
and  laid  him  forever  at  rest."  * 

The  portrait,  of  Sir  <  'hristopher  Mynj^s  is  now   in  the  I'ainted 
Hal)  Of  Greenwich    Hospital.       It    is  a   half  length    by   Sir  1'eter 
Lely,  and    came    from    Windsor   ('astle,   haxin^    been    | 
by  (ieor^e  IV.  in   IHiM.f 

*  (Jranc-ei'  ;  "  liioj'raphieal  HP  lory  "1  Kir-land,"  \<.l.   in.      <  HUH 
llHK  an     intenslin;'     linl  c  concernili;',   M  \  lies,    \\hicll\\ecainiol    forl.iar 
cop\  in;',  :   "  I  ;im  rr<-dil»ly  inlnniied  lh;it   when  hr  had  lakrii  a  Spam    h 
niaii-ol  -war  and  ; '.<'!'  iiiinsiiider  on  I  M. a  I'd  his  :-hip,   h<   roiinnil 

ted  tin-  can-  ol   him  to  ;i    li<  ul.  -11:111!,  \\ho    \\jisdin-eted    tool..    i\.    In 
Ix-liavior.      Sliorlly  al't«  r  \\«»rd  U;LS  hroui'lil  I..  M  \  114-;;  1  hal  1  In-  Spaniard 
was  deploi  Ing  !n     «  a|.tivity  and  woiidenii;'.  \\  hat  KT(  at   captain  it  could 

be  who  had   niiule  Doll  ,    w  il  h  a  Ion;'  and  1  cd  i«  >ic;  ;.|  i  i  n;-  o!  na  UK    . 

and  tit.lcH,  his  prisoner.      The  lieutenant    \sas  onh  n-d  lo  ret  inn  )• 
chur^<',  and  if  the  |)on  peisist(d  in  Ins  CIIIH.,I!\,  to  tell  him  that  '  Kit 
Minns 'had   taken    him.      This  dmnim!  i\  <•   name    ul  t<  rl  v  coniounded 
the    tili'ltidn,  Ihrew    him    into    an    a  IK  I,   and    j-axelnm    mon 

acute  pan;';:  than  all  the  rest  of  Ins  milfoil  in 

|  See    the   "  I  )escri  pt  l  ve   ('ataloj'iu-    of    the    Portraits    of  Na\al    OOBQ 
inanderfs,"  (  tc.,    in     the    "  Tainted     Hall,    (ireenuich     Hospital,"    Her 
Majesty's  Stationery  <Hlice,  London,  iHKl,  j>.  HI.    The  <  ditor  ol  1  h<   <•;,! 
ulo^ue  stales  that.  "  I  his  portrait   and   tho-«    n  um  I  .<  i  <  d  V,  S.   1 7    •!'.»,   102, 
K).r>,   107,   110    1  P2    form    li  -f  \al  liable  picl  uies    im  nt  i-'iied    in 

Pepys'  '  Diary,'  as  follows  :      'To  Mr.    Ldl\   s  1  In-  painter's,  and    I 
KUW  the  heads      som<-  tin  i  shed  and  all  he  j'ini      el  the  lla;-;'  m<  n    in  the 
l<ai    iijdil    \\  llh  t  he  |)uke  <>l   Y«'  I  he  hutch.       The  I  >u  ke  <  .1 

York  hath  them  doin;  to  hanj;  in  Ins  Hiainl.er,  and  \<  r\    (im  l\   th. 

done   indeed.         Here    are     the     Prince's    (  Kllpert  ...    : 

Sir  Thomas  Ted di man's,  Sir  Christ opher  Myiij's',  Sir  Joseph  .lord, 
Sir    William    P.erkeli-y's,  Sir  Thomas    Alhn's,  and  Captain     Ham,, 
as  also   the    DukeoJ    Alhemarles;  and    will    be.  jny  Lord   Sandwich's, 
VSir  W.  J'(inis,  and  Sir  ,1.  r< my  Sinilh'H.'  " 


ILLUSTRIOUS   SHOEMAKERS. 


ASTROLOGERS  AND  OTHERS. 

BE.  PARTRIDGE,  ASTROLOGER,  PHYSICIAN   TO   HIS 
MAJESTY,  ETC. 

IN  the  same  age  lived  another  noteworthy  man,  whose  connec- 
tion with  the  gentle  craft  was  much  more  intimate,  and,  indeed, 
of  almost  life-long  duration.  This  man  was  an  astrologer,  and 
blended  with  his  study  of  the  subtle  influences  of  the  stars 
over  human  affairs  the  study  of  medicine.  What  relation  there 
is  between  these  two  things  it  were  hard  to  tell  ;  but  certain  it 
is,  that  for  many  yeais  men  who  were  not  otherwise  fools  and 
knaves  believed  in  this  relation  ;  and,  combining  the  two 
"  professions,"  found  very  often  that  success  in  the  one  gave 
them  a  certain  prestige  in  the  other.  A  lucky  hit  in  li  casting 
the  nativity"  of  a  notable  person,  brought  the  li  astrologer  and 
physician"  endless  patients  and  no  small  fortune.  Probably 
an  appointment  as  physician  to  the  king  was  due  to  no  better 
cause  ;  and,  with  such  an  appointment,  of  course  the  practi- 
tioner's position  was  secure  for  life.  This  seems  to  have  been 
pretty  much  the  case  with  John  Partridge,  who  is  spoken  of 
as  a  shoemaker  in  Covent  Garden  in  1680,  and  in  1682  is 
styled  physician  to  His  Majesty  Charles  II.  Here  is  a  case, 
then,  of  a  cobbler  who  ventured  ultra  crepidam  to  some  pur- 
pose, and  who  might  very  well  have  taken  James  Lackington's 
motto  for  his  own.*  Partridge,  it  must  be  allowed,  was  a 
scholar  of  no  mean  attainments,  whatever  he  may  have  been  as 
a  physician,  and  his  scholarship  was  self -acquired.  During 
his  apprenticeship  to  a  shoemaker  he  began  the  study  of  Latin 
with  a  copy  of  Lilye's  Grammar,  Gouldman's  Dictionary, 
Ovid's  Metamorphoses,  and  a  Latin  Bible.  Having  got  a 
sufficient  knowledge  of  Latin  to  read  astrological  works,  lie 
betook  himself  to  the  study  of  Greek  and  Hebrew.  Then 
came  physic,  with  the  grand  result  of  royal  patronage.  Pai- 
tndge  was  a  considerable  author  or  editor,  and  the  list  of  Ins 
works  shows  the  strong  bent  of  his  mind  toward  the  occult 
science.  He  published  a  "  Hebrew  Calendar"  for  1678  ; 
44  Vade  Mecum,"  1679  ;  <l  Ecclesile^ia,  an  Almanac,"  1679  ; 
the  same  for  1680  ;  tk  The  King  of  France's  Nativity  ;"  "A 
Discourse  of  Two  Moons  ;"  4t  Mercurius  Coelestis,"  being  an 

*  Sutor  ultra  crepidam  feliciter  ausus.     See  Lackington's  Life,  p.  45. 


DR.    PARTRIDGE.  221 

almanac  for  1681  ;  tl  Prodomus,  a  Discourse  on  the  Conjunc- 
tion of  Saturn  and  Mars;"  "The  Black  Life  of  John  Gad- 
bury,77  in  which  a  brother  astrologer  is  roundly  abused,  and 
shown  to  be,  as  a  matter  of  course,  a  rogue  and  impostor  ;  and 
a'4  Translation  of  Hadrianus  a  Mynsicht's  Treasury  of  Physic," 
1682. 

The  inscription  over  Partridge's  tomb  is  in  Latin,  as 
becomes  the  memorial  of  so  learned  a  man  and  so  eminent  a 
physician  !  The  visitor  to  the  churchyard  of  Mortlake  in 
Surrey  may  still  learn — if  tfce  great  destroyer  has  dealt  gently 
with  the  record — how 

JOHANNES  PARTRIDGE,    ASTROLOGUS 
ET  MEDICINE  DOCTOR, 

was  born  at  East  Sheen,  in  Surrey,  on  the  18th  January, 
1644,  and  died  in  London,  24th  June,  1715  ;  how  he  made 
medicine  for  two  kings  and  one  queen,  Carolo  scilicet  Secundo, 
Willielmo  Tertio,  Reginceque  Marice  ;  and  how  the  Dutch  Uni- 
versity of  Leyden  conferred  on  him  the  diploma  Medicince 
Doctor. 

Partridge  seems  to  have  given  his  MS.  of  the  "  Conjunction 
of  Saturn  and  Mars"  to  Elias  Ashmole,  who  presented  it  in 
1682,  with  other  curiosities,  to  the  University  of  Oxford, 
where  it  may  still  be  seen  in  the  Ashmolean  Museum.* 

Partridge  is  alluded  to  in  Pope's  "  Rape  of  the  Lock,"  where 
the  poet  speaks  of  Belinda's  "  wavy  curl,"  which  has  been 
stolen  and  placed  among  the  stars — 

"  This  Partridge  soon  shall  view  in  cloudless  skies, 
When  next  he  looks  through  Galileo's  eyes  ; 
And  hence  the  egregious  wizard  shall  foredoom 
The  fate  of  Louis  and  the  fall  of  Rome." 

11  What  sacrifices,"  says  the  author  of  "  The  Book  of 
Days/7  "  would  many  a  sage  or  poet  have  made  to  be  con- 
nected through  all  time  with  Pope  and  the  charming  Belinda  ! 
Yet  here,  in  this  case,  we  find  the  almanac-making  shoemaker 
enjoying  a  companionship  and  a  celebrity  for  qualities  which, 
morally,  have  no  virtue  or  endurance  in  them,  but  quite  the 
reverse.77  Swift,  whose  satire  stung  many  an  abuse  to  death, 
made  endless  fun  of  Partridge  and  his  absurd  prophecies  based 
on  astrology.  In  1708  Swift  published  a  burlesque  almanac 

*  Elias  Ashmole  appears  to  have  been  given  to  astrology  and  alchemy; 
see  his  "  Way  to  Bliss,"  a  work  on  the  Philosopher's  stone,  published 
1658. 


222  ILLUSTRIOUS   SHOEMAKERS. 

containing  "  predictions  for  the  year, "  etc.,  etc.,  the  first  of 
which  was  about  Partridge  himself.  Fancy  the  astrologer's 
feelings  when  he  read  the  following  awful  announcement  : — 4t  I 
have  consulted  the  star  of  his  nativity  by  my  own  rules,  and 
find  he  will  infallibly  die  on  the  29th  of  March  next  of  a  raging 
fever  ;  therefore  I  advise  him  to  consider  it  and  settle  his  af- 
fairs in  time  !'' 

After  the  29th  of  March  was  past,  Partridge  positively  took 
the  trouble  to  inform  the  public  that  he  was  not  dead  !  This 
he  did  in  his  almanac  for  1709.  Whereupon  the  cruel  Dean 
took  the  matter  up  again  and  tried  to  show  Partridge  his  error. 
He  was  dead,  argues  Swift,  if  he  did  but  know  it  ;  but  thru 
there  is  no  accounting  for  some  men's  ignorance  !  He  says, 
"  I  have  in  another  place  and  in  a  paper  by  itself  sufficiently 
convinced  this  man  that  he  is  dead  ;  and  if  he  has  any  shame, 
I  don't  doubt  but  that  by  this  time  he  owns  it  to  all  his  ac- 
quaintance." *  Not  content  with  this,  Swift  wrote  an  il  Elegy 
on  the  supposed  Death  of  Partridge,  the  Almanac-maker,"  and 
wound  up  the  painful  business  by  writing  his  epitaph  too. 

THE    EPITAPH. 

"  Here,  five  foot  deep,  lies,  on  his  back, 
A  cobbler,  star  monger,  and  quack, 
Who  to  the  stars,  in.  pure  good-will, 
Does  to  his  best  look  upward  still. 
Weep,  all  ye  customers,  that  use 
His  pills,  or  almanacs,  or  shoes  ; 
And  you  that  did  your  fortunes  seek, 
Step  to  his  grave  but  once  a  week. 
This  earth,  which  bears  his  body's  print, 
You'll  find  has  so  much  virtue  in't, 
That  I  durst  pawn  my  ear  'twill  tell 
Whate'er  concerns  you  full  as  well, 
In  physic,  stolen  goods,  or  love, 
As  he  himself  could  when  above. ' ' 


THE   BHOTHERS   SIBLY.— EBENEZER   SIBLY,  M.D.,  F.K.C.P., 
ASTKOLOGER,  ETC. 

Here  also  may  be  mentioned  the  once  famous  Dr.  Ebenezer 
Sibly,  the  physician  and  astrologer,  and  his  brother  Manoah, 

*  The  Tatler,  April  11,  1709.  Steele  and  Congreve  assisted  in  the 
joke.  Congreve  pretended  to  take  the  side  of  Partridge  by  defending 
him  against  the  charge  of  *  *  sneaking  about  without  paying  his  funeral 
expenses  !"  See  Tinib's  "  Anecdote  Biog."  vol.  i.  pp.  24  and  154. 


DR.    PARTRIDGE.  223 

who  by  turns  was  shoemaker,  shorthand  reporter,  and  preacher 
of  the  "  heavenly  doctrines'  *  of  the  New  Jerusalem  Church. 
However  great  a  figure  these  men  may  have  made  in  their  day, 
they  have  managed  to  drop  so  completely  out  of  notice  that  no 
encyclopaedia,  biographical  dictionary,  or  magazine  *  the  writer 
has  met  with  contains  any  account  of  them.  They  are  said  to 
have  been  born  in  Bristol,  and  to  have  been  brought  up  to  the 
gentle  craft. f  The  first  edition  of  Ebenezer  Sibly's  "  Astro- 
logical Astronomy''  was  published  in  1789,  in  three  vols.  8vo, 
and  was  entitled  "  Astronomy  and  Elemental  y  Philosophy," 
being  a  translation  of  Placidus  de  Titus.  The  various  editions 
of  this  work  contain  a  collection  of  remarkable  nativities,  and 
among  them  Sibly  includes  that  of  Thomas  Chatterton,  "  the 
marvellous  boy"  of  Bristol.  J  Of  course  the  astrologer  sees  in 
the  horoscope  of  Chatterton  sure  signs  of  remarkable  genius. 
Sibly  was  frequently  consulted  both  for  astrological  and  medi- 
cal purposes,  the  two  professions,  astrology  and  medicine,  be- 
ing regarded  as  having  a  certain  necessary  i elation.  At  all 
events,  it  answered  the  purposes  of  men  like  Sibly  and  Par- 
tridge to  associate  them  in  their  practice.  Human  credulity 
dies  hard,  the  race  of  fools  sesms  to  be  endowed  with  wondrous 
vitality  ;  even  as  late  as  182G  Sibly's  "  Celestial  Science  of  As- 
trology," in  two  bulky  4to  vols.,  was  published  in  a  twelfth 
edition,  and  at  that  time  there  must  have  been  many  readers  of 
his  costly  works  §  on  the  4t  Occult  Sciences,  comprehending  the 
Art  of  Foretelling  Future  Events  and  Contingencies  by  the  As- 
pect and  Influences  of  the  Heavenly  Bodies."  This  work  was 
accompanied  by  a  key  to  physic  and  the  occult  sciences. 
"  Many  of  my  readers,"  says  the  author  of  "  Crispin  Anec- 
dotes," u  otherwise  indebted  to  Dr.  Sibly,  may  remember  his 
solar  and  lunar  tinctures,  and  may  probably  have  experienced 
their  efficacy  in  transmuting  gold  coin  into  AURUM  POTABILE  !" 
In  his  astrological  work",  and  his  edition  of  '*  Culpepper's  Her- 
bal," Sibly  signs  himself  "  M.D.,"  "  Fellow  of  the  Royal  Har- 
monic Philosophical  Society  at  Paris,"  "  Member  of  the  Royal 
College  of  Physicians  in  Aberdeen,"  etc.,  etc.  The  "  Herbal  " 
is  dated  in  the  year  of  Masonry  5798,  and  is  written  from  No. 

*  In  regard  to  Manoah  Sibly,  see  below. 

f  "Crispin  Anecdotes,"  p.  85.  The  plates  in  E.  Sibly's  works  are 
by  Ames,  a  Bristol  name  a  century  ago.  His  portrait  in  the  1790 
edition  is  by  Roberts. 

\  His  birth  is  set  down  as  occurring  20th  November,  p.m.,  1752. 

§  They  were  published  at  two  guineas. 


224  ILLUSTRIOUS   SHOEMAKERS. 

1  Upper  Tichfield  Street,  Cavendish  Square,  London.  \Vc 
have  no  record  of  the  death  of  this  illustrious  son  of  Crispin, 
who,  perhaps,  had  better  have  stuck  to  his  last.  lie  is  called 
"  the  late  E.  Sibly,  M.D.,"  in  the  1817  edition  of  his  "  Ce- 

Ic-slial  Science." 


MANOAH  SIBLY,  SHORTHAND  WRITER,   ETC. 

Manoah  Sibly  appears  to  have  been  a  man  of  more  varied 
and  certainly  of  much  more  useful  gifts  than  his  brother  "  the 
doctor  ;M  but  it  may  well  be  doubted  if  he  made  as  much  cap- 
ital out  of  them.  He  was  born  August  20th,  1757.*  If  the 
writer  above  quoted  be  correct  in  saying  that  Manoah  was  a 
shoemaker,  he  must  have  made  good  use  of  his  spare  time,  and 
even  of  his  working  hours,  for  at  the  age  of  nineteen  lie  is  said 
to  have  been  teaching  Hebrew,  Greek,  Latin,  and  Syriac. 
During  the  greater  part  of  his  life  he  was  a  prominent  preacher 
in  connection  with  the  New  Jerusalem  or  Swedenborgian  com- 
munity. For  fifty-three  years,  from  the  time  of  his  ordina- 
tion in  1790,  he  held  the  pastorate  of  the  congregation  for 
which  the  Friars  Street  Chapel,  London,  was  built  in  1803. 
This  congregation  is  now  represented  by  the  well-known  Argyle 
Square  Church,  King's  Cross,  where  a  tablet  to  his  memory 
has  been  erected.  Manoah  Sibly  does  not  seem  at  any  time 
to  have  been  wholly  occupied  with  the  work  of  preaching, 
although  he  delivered  two  sermons  a  week  for  forty-three  years, 
and  one  a  week  for  the  remaining  ten  of  his  ministry. 
Whether  he  dabbled  in  the  muddy  waters  of  astrology  or  no, 
it  is  rather  hard  to  tell  ;  probably  he  left  the  task  of  reading 
the  stars,  for  the  most  part,  to  his  more  astute  brother,  Ebe- 
nezer.  At  any  rate,  a  translation  of  Placidus  de  Titus  is  set 
down  in  certain  lists  as  having  been  published  in  his  name  in 
1789  ;  f  and  when  he  opened  a  shop  as  a  bookseller,  he  dealt 
chiefly  in  works  on  occult  philosophy.  In  1795  he  is  styled 
shorthand  writer  to  the  City  of  London  on  the  title-page  of  the 

*  The  Secretary  of  the  Swedenborg  Society,  Mr.  James  Speirs,  has 
obligingly  supplied  the  writer  with  most  of  the  facts  given  above, 
which  are  taken  from  an  obituary  of  M.S.  in  the  Intellectual  Repository, 
a  Swedenborg  magazine  for  1841.  Mr.  Speirs  says  that  Manoah  Sibly 
was  "presumably"  born  in  London,  but  see  above. 

f  The  exact  correspondence  in  title  and  date  between  this  book  and 
the  first  edition  of  E.  Sibly' s  similar  work  creates  a  suspicion  of  error 
in  the  name. 


MACKEY.  225 

published  reports  from  his  own  notes  of  the  trial  of  Gillman  and 
of  Thomas  Hardy,  the  political  shoemaker,  whose  trial  and 
acquittal  created  so  great  an  excitement  throughout  the  coun- 
try. Two  years  after  this  he  obtained  a  situation  in  the  Bank 
of  England,  which  he  held  for  no  less  than  forty-three  years. 
In  addition  to  all  this  multifarious  work,  he  found  time  for  writ- 
ing and  slight  editorial  duties.  In  1796  a  volume  of  sermons 
preached  in  the  New  Jerusalem  Temple  appeared  in  his  name, 
and  in  1802  he  edited  a  liturgy  for  his  own  church,  and  wrote 
a  hymn-book.  If  in  no  other  way,  his  memory  will  be  per- 
petuated among  his  coreligionists  by  the  hymns  that  bear  his 
name.  His  first  published  work  was  a  critical  essay  on  Jere- 
miah 38  :  16,  issued  in  1777  ;  and  his  last,  a  discourse  on 
44  Jesus  Christ,  the  only  Divine  object  of  Praise,"  delivered  on 
the  forty-fifth  anniversary  of  the  promulgation  of  the  44  heavenly 
doctrines,"  appeared  fifty-six  years  after,  viz.,  in  1833.  Ma- 
noah  Sibly's  long  life  of  fourscore  and  three  years  came  to  an 
end  December  16th,  1840. 


MACKEY,  THE  LEAENED  SHOEMAKER  OF  NORWICH,  AND 
TWO  OTHER  LEARNED  SHOEMAKERS. 

In  this  connection  we  may  mention  a  curious  instance  of 
learning  in  lowly  life,  mentioned  in  one  of  a  series  of  inter- 
esting articles  in  the  Leisure  Hour,  already  alluded  to.  The 
writer  says  :  "  In  that  most  entertaining  miscellany  Notes 
and  Queries  (No.  215)  we  find  an  interesting  account  of  a 
very  poor  Norwich  shoemaker  named  Mackey,  whose  mind  ap- 
pears to  have  been  a  marvellous  receptacle  of  varied  learning. 
He  died  in  Doughty 's  Hospital,  in  Norwich,  an  asylum  for 
aged  persons  there.  The  writer  of  the  paper  found  him  sur- 
rounded by  the  tools  of  his  former  trade  and  a  variety  of  astro- 
nomical instruments  and  apparatus,  and  he  instantly  was  ready 
for  conversation  upon  the  mysteries  of  astronomical  and  myth- 
ological lore,  the  44  Asiatic  Researches  oi  Captain  Wilford, " 
and  the  mythological  speculations  of  Jacob  Bryant  and  Mau- 
rice, quoting  Latin  and  Greek  to  his  auditor.  He  was  called 
"  the  learned  shoemaker."  His  learning  was  probably  greatly 
undigested  and  ungeneralized,  but  it  was  none  the  less  another 
singular  instance  of  the  pursuit  of  knowledge  under  difficul- 
ties, as  is  shown  by  his  published  works  on  mythological  as- 
tronomy and  on  44  The  Age  of  Mental  Emancipation. "  To  this 
notice  of  Mackey  the  writer  in  the  Leisure  Hour  adds  an  amus- 


%2t\  ILLUSTRIOUS    SHOEMAKERS. 

ing  story,  which  is  too  good  to  be  omitted,  of  a  brother  of  the 
gentle  craft  (a  cobbler)  who,  in  order  to  eclipse  a  rival  who 
lived  opposite  to  him,  put  over  his  door  on  his  stall  the  well- 
known  motto,  "  Mens  conscia  recti"  (a  mind  conscious  of  rec- 
titude). But  his  adversary,  determined  not  to  be  outdone, 
showed  himself  also  a  cobbler  in  classics  as  well  as  in  shoes,  by 
placing  over  his  door  the  astonishingly  comprehensive  defiance, 
"  Men's  and  Women's  conscia  recti." 


ANTHONY  PURVER,  THE  SHOEMAKER  WHO  REVISED  THE 

BIBLE. 

Another  curious  instance  of  extensive  reading  and  remarkable 
linguistic  talent,  somewhat  similar  to  that  of  Dr.  Partridge  and 
the  learned  shoemaker  of  Norwich,  is  that  of  Anthony  Purver. 
He  was  born  at  Up  Hurstbourne  in  Hampshire  in  1702.  His 
parents  were  poor,  and  put  their  boy  apprentice  to  the  art  and 
mystery  of  making  and  mending  boots  and  shoes.  When  his 
44  time  was  out,"  he  betook  himself  to  the  leisurely  and  healthy 
employment  of  keeping  sheep,  and  began  to  study.  His  spe- 
cial line  in  after-life  was  decided  by  his  meeting  with  a  tract 
which  pointed  out  some  errors  of  translation  in  the  authorized 
version  of  the  Bible.  This  led  him  to  resolve  that  he  would 
read  the  Scriptures  in  the  original  Hebrew  and  Greek.  Taking 
lessons  from  a  Jew,  Purver  soon  learned  to  read  Hebrew. 
After  this  he  took  up  Greek  and  Latin,  until  he  could  read 
with  ease  in  either  language.  "  On  settling  as  a  schoolmaster 
at  Andover, "  we  are  told,*  '*  he  undertook  the  extraordinary 
labor  of  translating  the  Bible  into  English,  which  work  he 
actually  accomplished,  and  it  was  printed  at  the  expense  of  Dr. 
Fothergill  in  two  vols.  folio.  This  learned  shoemaker,  shep- 
herd, and  schoolmaster  deeply  felt  the  need  of  the  great  work 
which  has  been  accomplished  in  our  own  day  by  the  united 
scholarship  of  England  and  America,  In  his  own  way  he  com- 
pleted the  Herculean  task  single-handed  ;  and  if  his  translation 
was  not  of  any  general  and  practical  utility,  it  none  the  less  de- 
serves mention  as  a  monument  of  self-acquired  learning  and 
honorable  industry.  Purver  died  in  1777,  at  the  age  of  sev- 
enty-five. 

*  "  Maunder 's  Biographical  Treasury."     London  :  Longmans. 


POETS   OF  THE   COBBLER'S   STALL.  227 


POETS  OF  THE  COBBLER'S  STALL. 

In  coming  to  speak  of  the  poets  of  the  cobbler's  stall,  the 
task  of  selection  is  found  to  be  by  no  means  an  easy  one.  It 
is  hard  enough  to  tell  where  to  begin  ;  it  is  harder  still  to 
know  where  to  leave  off.  "  This  brooding  fraternity"  of  shoe- 
makers, it  is  said,  "  has  produced  more  ihymers  than  any 
other  of  the  handicrafts."  * 

' '  Crispin's  sons 

Have  from  uncounted  time  with  ale  and  buns 

Cherisk'cl  the  gift  of  song,  which  sorrow  quells  ; 

And  working  single  in  their  low-built  cells, 

Oft  cheat  the  tedium  of  a  winter's  night 

With  anthems. ' '  f 

In  the  days  of  the  revival  of  learning  and  the  reformation  of 
religion  in  England,  shoemakers  had  their  share  in  the  mental 
and  moral  awakening.  Many  of  them  turned  poets,  and  essayed 
to  write  ballads  and  songs,  of  which  we  have  a  sample  in  De- 
loney's  "  Delightful,  Princely,  and  Entertaining  History  of  the 
Gentle  Craft."  J  Such  a  spirited  songster  as  Richard  Rigby, 
"  a  brother  of  the  craft,"  who  undertook  to  show  in  his 
"  Song  of  Praise  to  the  Gentle  Craft  "  how  **  royal  princes, 
sons  of  kings,  lords,  and  great  commanders  have  been  shoe- 
makers of  old,  to  the  honor  of  the  ancient  trade,"  also  de- 
serves to  be  mentioned.  This  song,  beginning 

"  I  sing  in  praise  of  shoemakers, 
Whose  honor  no  person  can  stain,  "§ 

is  no  mean  performance  ;  its  historic  allusions  may  not  be  unim- 
peachable, but  its  poetic  ring  is  genuine.  Scores  of  pieces  of  a 
similar  character  have  issued  from  the  cobbler's  room,  and 
either  perished,  like  many  another  ballad  and  song  of  the  six- 
teenth and  seventeenth  centuries,  or  found  their  way  into  odd 
corners  of  our  literature,  where  they  are  buried  almost  beyond 
hope  of  resurrection. 

Speaking  of  men  who  have  aspired  to  be  poets  and  have  pub- 
lished their  productions,  one  is  fain  to  begin  with  a  name 
which,  if  it  could  be  proved  to  belong  to  the  gentle  craft, 
would  certainly  have  to  stand  at  the  head  of  the  long  list  of 

*  Quarterly  Review,  January,  1831,  p.  76. 

f  Charles  Lamb,  "Album  Verses,"  1830,  p.  57. 

t  London,  1675  and  1725. 

§  See  Campion's  "  Delightful  History,"  p.  51. 


22S  ILLUSTRIOUS   SHOEMAKERS. 

poetical  shoemakers — the  Elizabethan  dramatist  Thomas  Dck- 
ker,  who  wrote  "  one  of  the  most  light-hearted  of  merry  come- 
dies,'7 The  Shoomaker'' s  Holyday.  One  of  the  most  prom- 
inent characters  in  the  play  is  Sir  Simon  Eyre,  the  reputed 
builder  of  Leadenhall  Market,  London,  and  Lord  Mayor  of  the 
city.*  Of  this  worthy,  who  lived  in  the  time  of  Henry  VI., 
Rigby,  in  his  "  Song  in  Praise  of  the  Gentle  Craft,"  says — 

"  Sir  Simon,  Lord  Mayor  of  fair  London, 
He  was  a  shoemaker  by  trade." 

It  is  hard  to  think  that  the  writer  of  The  Shooinuker's 
Holyday,  in  which  the  ways  of  shoemakers  and  the  details  of 
the  craft  are  described  with  all  the  ease  and  exactitude  of  fa- 
miliarity, was  not  a  brother  of  the  craft.f  When  the  famous 
quarrel  arose  between  the  quondam  friends  and  coworkers, 
Ben  Jonson  and  Dekkcr,  Jonson  in  his  Poetaxtcr  satirized 
the  author  of  The  Shooinuker's  Holyday  under  the  name  of 
Crispinus.  This  epithet  may  be  simply  an  allusion  to  the  sub- 
ject of  Dekker's  well-known  comedy  ;  but  may  it  not  also  be 
regarded  as  a  veritable  "  cut  at  a  cobbler  ?" 


JAMES  WOODHOUSE,  THE  FKIEND  OF  SHENSTONE. 

James  Woodhouse  stands  first  on  our  list  in  point  of  time,  but 
not  in  regard  to  ability.  He  evidently  owed  his  little  brief 
popularity  to  the  friendship  of  William  Shenstone,  author  of 
"The  Schoolmistress/7  Shenstone  lived  at  Leasowes,  seven 
miles  from  Birmingham,  in  a  charming  country-house  sur- 

*  The  author  of  "  Crispin  Anecdotes"  mentions  another  shoemaker 
who  was  made  Lord  Mayor  of  London,  viz.,  Sir  Thomas  Tichbourne, 
who  was  Mayor  in  1656,  during  the  Protectorate. — "Crispin  Anec- 
dotes," p.  127. 

f  One  is  ready  to  ask  who  but  a  shoemaker  could  have  gone  so 
heartily  into  the  rollicking  fun  of  the  shoemaker's  room,  or  asked  such 
a  question  as  the  following  :-  '  Have  you  all  your  tools  ;  a  good  rub- 
bing pin,  a  good  stopper,  a  good  dresser,  your  four  sorts  of  awls,  and 
your  two  balls  of  wax,  your  paring  knife,  your  hand  and  thumb 
leathers,  and  good  St.  Hugh's  bones  to  smooth  your  work?"  It  may 
be  remarked  here  that  St.  Hugh  is  another  patron  saint  of  the  craft. 
Hugh,  son  of  the  king  of  Powis,  was  in  love  with  Winifred,  daughter 
of  Donvallo,  king  of  Flintshire.  Both  were  martyrs  under  Diocletian. 
St.  Hugh's  bones  were  stolen  by  the  shoemakers,  and  worked  up  into 
tools  to  avoid  discovery.  Hence  the  cobbler's  phrase,  "St.  Hugh's 
bones."  See  Deloney's  "  Entertaining  History." 


JOHN   BENNET.  229 

rounded  by  gardens,  artistically  laid  out  and  cultivated  with  the 
utmost  care  by  the  eccentric,  fantastic  poet.  Woodhouse,  who 
was  born  about  1733,  was  a  village  shoemaker  and  eke  a 
schoolmaster  at  Rowley,  two  miles  off.  Shenstone  had  been 
obliged  to  exclude  the  public  from  his  gardens  and  grounds  at 
Leasowes  on  account  of  the  wanton  damage  done  to  flowers  and 
shrubs.  Whereupon  the  village  shoemaker  addressed  the  poet 
in  poetical  terms  asking  to  be  4<  excluded  from  the  prohibi- 
tion." In  reply  Shenstone  admitted  him  not  only  to  wander 
through  his  grounds,  but  to  ^rnake  a  free  use  of  his  library. 
Shenstone  found/'  says  Southey,  "that  the  poor  applicant 
used  to  work  with  a  pen  and  ink  at  his  side  while  the  last  was 
in  his  lap — the  head  at  one  employ,  the  hands  at  another  ;  and 
when  he  had  composed  a  couplet  or  a  stanza,  he  wrote  it  on  his 
knee."  Woodhouse  was  then  about  twenty-six  years  of  age. 
His  lot  must  have  been  rather  hard  at  that  time,  for,  speaking 
of  his  wife's  work  and  his  own,  he  says  in  one  of  his  poems — 

"  Nor  mourn  I  mnch  my  task  austere, 

Which  endless  wants  impose  ; 
But  oh  !  it  wounds  my  soul  to  hear 
My  Daphne' s  melting  woes  ! 

"  For  oft  she  sighs  and  oft  she  weeps 

And  hangs  her  pensive  head, 
While  blood  her  furrowed  finger  steeps 
And  stains  the  passing  thread. 

"  When  orient  hills  the  sun  behold, 

Our  labors  are  begun  ; 
And  when  he  streaks  the  west  with  gold, 
The  task  is  still  undone." 

Five  years  after  his  introduction  to  Shenstone,  a  collection 
of  his  poems  was  published,  entitled  "  Poems  on  Several  Oc- 
casions." About  forty  years  afterward  he  issued  another 
edition  with  additional  pieces,  such  as  "  Woodstock,  an 
Elegy,"  "  St.  Crispin,"  etc.  In  the  later  years  of  his  life  he 
was  living  near  Norbury  Park,  and  had  found  a  generous  patron 
in  Mr.  Lock,  who  superintended  the  publication  of  his  poetry, 
and  in  Lord  Lyttleton  of  Hagley. 


JOHN  BENNET  OF  WOODSTOCK,  PARISH  CLERK  AND  POET. 

The  name  of  Bennet  occurs  once  more  in  our  list,  and  in  this 
instance,  if  classed  at  all,  it  should  be  classed  with  the  poets, 
although  it  must  be  confessed  that  the  claim  of  John  Bennet  to 


230  ILLUSTRIOUS   SHOEMAKERS. 

that  honorable  title  would  hardly  be  allowed  in  some  quarters. 
This  little  local  celebrity  inherited  the  office  of  parish  clerk 
from  his  father,  and  with  it  some  degree  of  musical  taste,  for 
his  father's  psalm-singing  is  said  to  have  charmed  the  ear  of 
Thomas  Warton,  Professor  of  Poetry  at  Oxford,  and  sometime 
curate  of  Woodstock.  John  Bonnet,  junior,  succeeded  to  the 
clerkship  in  Warton's  time,  and  thus  came  under  the  notice  of 
the  kindly  clergyman,  who  was  a  generous  patron  of  men  of 
this  class.  When  Bennet  took  to  writing  poetry  and  thought 
of  publishing,  Warton  gave  him  every  assistance  in  his  power, 
A  poor  uneducated  poet  could  scarcely  have  fallen  into  better 
hands,  for  the  young  curate  was  geniality  itself,  if  we  may 
judge  from  the  estimate  of  him  formed  by  Southey,  who  speaks 
of  his-  "  thorough  good  nature  and  the  boyish  hilarity  which  he 
retained  through  life,"  and  furthermore  adds,  "The  Wood- 
stock shoemaker  was  chiefly  indebted  for  the  patronage  which 
he  received  to  Thomas  Warton's  good-nature,  for  my  predeces- 
sor was  the  best-natured  man  that  ever  wore  a  great  wig."* 
The  shoemaker's  poetry  was  "  published  by  subscription"  in 
1774,  and  the  long  list  of  notable  names  speaks  well  for  the  in- 
dustry and  influence  of  the  patron  to  whose  efforts  the  splen- 
did array  of  subscribers  must  be  attributed.  Bennet's  poetry, 
which  was  not  of  a  very  high  order  of  merit,  consisted  chiefly 
of  simple  rhymes  on  rustic  themes,  in  which  he  does  not  for- 
get to  sing  the  praises  of  the  gentleman-like  craft  to  which  he 
belongs  ;  nor  does  he  hesitate  frankly  to  declare  that  his  reason 
for  publishing  his  rhymes  is  4'  to  enable  the  author  to  rear  an  in- 
fant offspring,  and  to  drive  away  all  anxious  solicitude  from  the 
breast  of  a  most  amiable  wife."  Later  in  life  he  published  an- 
other volume,  having  for  its  chief  piece  a  poem  entitled  "  Re- 
demption ;"  and,  as  a  set-off,  a  kindly  preface  by  Dr.  Mavor, 
Rector  of  Woodstock.  This  honest  parish  clerk  of  poetical 
fame  died  and  was  buried  at  Woodstock  on  the  8th  of  August, 
1803. 

RICHARD  SAVAGE,  THE  FRIEND  OF  POPE. 

A  far  better  poet  but  a  far  less  worthy  man  than  Bennet  of 
Wroodstock  or  Wroodhouse  of  Rowley  was  Richard  Savage,  the 
friend  of  Pope.  From  beginning  to  end  the  story  of  His  life, 

*  See  Southey's  preface  to  "Attempts  in  Verse,  by  John  Jones," 
London,  1830  ;  and  article  thereon  in  Quarterly  Keview,  January, 
1831,  p.  81. 


THOMAS    OLIVERS.  231 

as  told  by  Dr.  Johnson  in  his  "  Lives  of  the  Poets, M  is  one  of 
the  most  romantic  and  melancholy  biographies  in  existence.  It 
only  concerns  us  here  to  say  that  Richard  Savage,  the  reputed  * 
son  of  Earl  Rivers  and  the  Countess  of  Macclesfield,  was,  on 
leaving  school,  apprenticed  to  a  shoemaker,  and.  remained  in 
this  humble  position  4t  longer  than  he  was  willing  to  confess  ; 
nor  was  it,  perhaps,  any  great  advantage  to  him  that  an  unex- 
pected discovery  determined  him  to  quit  his  occupation."  Dr. 
Johnson  thus  speaks  of  this  discovery  and  its  immediate  re- 
sults :  "  About  this  time  his  nurse,  who  had  always  treated 
him  as  her  own  son,  died  ;  and  it  was  natural  for  him  to  take 
care  of  those  effects  which,  by  her  death,  were,  as  he  imagined, 
become  his  own.  He  theretore  went  to  her  house,  opened  her 
boxes,  and  examined  her  papers,  among  which  he  found  some 
letters  written  to  her  by  the  Lady  Mason,  which  informed  him 
of  his  birth  and  the  reason  for  which  it  was  concealed.  Dis- 
satisfied with  his  employment,  but  unable  to  obtain  either  pity 
or  help  from  his  mother,  to  whom  he  made  many  tender  ap- 
peals, he  resolved  to  devote  himself  to  literature.  His  first  at- 
tempt in  this  line  was  a  short  poem  called  *  The  Battle  of  .the 
Pamphlets,'  written  anent  the  Bangorian  Conlroversy  ;  and  his 
second  a  comedy  under  the  title  4  "Woman's  Riddle.'  Two 
years  after  appeared  another  comedy,  4  Love  in  a  Veil.'  In 
1723  he  wrote  a  drama,  having  for  its  subject  certain  events  in 
the  life  of  Sir  Thomas  Overbury.  Previous  to  the  publication  of 
a  small  volume  entitled  '  A  Miscellany  of  Poems,'  Savage  wrote 
the  story  of  his  life  in  a  political  paper  called  The  Plain 
Dealer.  His  best  poem,  i  The  Wanderer,'  in  which  are  somo 
pathetic  passages  referring  to  himself,  was  published  in  1729." 
For  the  story  of  the  life  of  this  unhappy  man  the  reader  must 
be.  referred  to  Johnson's  "  Lives."  Savage  died  in  the  debt- 
ors' prison,  Bristol,  August  1st,  1743. 


THOMAS  OLIVERS,  HYMN-WRITER,  FRIEND  AND  COWORKEK 
WITH  JOHN  WESLEY. 

It  is  a  relief  to  turn  from  the  thought  of  Savage  to  Thomas 
Olivers,  one  of  John  Wesley's  most  intimate  friends  and  zealous 
coworkers.  We  have  seen  already  how  prominent  a  part 

*  For  an  able  discussion  of  the  question,  "  Was  Richard  Savage  an 
Impostor?"  to  which  the  writer,  Mr.  Moy  Thomas,  says,  "Yes,"  see 
Notes  and  Qiwries,  2d  Series,  vol.  vi. 


332  ILLUSTRIOUS    SHOEMAKKKS. 

another  shoemaker  played  in  the  Methodist  revival  ;*  but 
Olivers  is  perhaps  better  known  to  the  general  public  than  Sam- 
uel Bradburn,  for  the  latter  has  left  no  mark  on  our  literature, 
while  the  former  has  made  a  name  among  hymn- writers  as  the 
author  of  several  excellent  hymns,  and  of  one,  in  particular, 
which  holds  a  place  of  first  rank  in  Christian  hymnology.  Oli- 
vers' fame  outside  Methodism  rests  chiefly  on  the  fine  hymn 
beginning — 

"  The  God  of  Abram  praise, 

Who  reigns  enthroned  above, 
Ancient  of  everlasting  days, 

And  God  of  love. 
Jehovah  great,  I  Am, 

By  earth  and  heaven  confest ; 
I  bow  and  bless  the  sacred  name, 
Forever  blest." 

One  hymn  may  seem  to  be  a  very  narrow  basis  on  which  to 
build  a  reputation,  yet  the  name  of  Olivers  will  as  surely  be 
handed  down  to  future  generations,  on  account  of  this  fine 
sacred  lyric,  as  it  would  have  been  if  he  had  written  a  whole 
volume  of  hymns  of  merely  average  merit.  A  dozen  instances 
might  be  cited  in  which  a  single  brief  poem-  of  rare  excellence 
has  won  an  undying  fame  for  the  writer.  Gray's  "  Elegy 
Written  in  a  Country  Churchyard,"  and  Michael  Bruce's 
44  Elegy  Written  in  Spring,"  Wolfe's  "Burial  of  Sir  John 
Moore,"  and  Blanco  White's  single  sonnet,  "  Night  and 
Death,"  and,  in  an  inferior  degree,  poor  Herbert  Knowles' 
"  Lines  Written  in  the  Churchyard  of  Richmond,  Yorkshire," 
are  cases  in  point. 

Thomas  Olivers  in  his  autobiography  f  tells  us  that  lie  was 
born  at  Tregonon  in  Montgomeryshire  in  1725.  After  the 
death  of  his  father  and  uncle,  Thomas  was  left  in  charge  of  an- 
other relative  named  Tudor,  who  sent  him  to  school  and  after- 
ward bound  him  apprentice  to  a  shoemaker.  He  was,  by  his 
own  account,  idle,  dissolute,  and  profane — "  the  worst  boy 
seen  in  those  parts  for  the  last  twenty  or  thirty  years."  His 
evil  conduct  compelled  him  to  fly  from  the  scene  of  his  early 
dissipation  as  soon  as  he  could  ;  and,  after  living  a  wild  life  at 

*  See  Life  of  Samuel  Bradburn,  President  of  the  Wesleyan  Con- 
ference. 

f  See  a  book  of  unusual  interest,  "Lives  of  the  Early  Methodist 
Preachers,"  ed.  by  Rev.  I.  Jackson.  Wesleyan  Book-Boom,  London, 
3  vols.  1865. 


THOMAS    OLIVERS.  233 

Shrewsbury  and  Wrexham,  he  carne  to  Bristol.  This  city  was 
his  spiritual  birthplace  ;  for,  under  a  sermon  by  George  Whit- 
field,  the  sinful,  reckless  young  Welshman  was  converted,  and 
became  as  noted  for  piety  and  earnest  Christian  work  as  he 
had  once  been  for  blasphemy  and  opposition  to  all  religion. 
Shortly  after  his  conversion  he  removed  to  Bradford  in  Wilts, 
where  he  joined  the  Methodists.  On  recovering  from  a  terrible 
attack  of  small-pox  he  went  back  to  visit  the  scenes  of  his 
early  life.  In  this  expedition  he  had  a  double  object — to  ob- 
tain a  sum  of  money  left  him  by  his  uncle,  and  then  to  go 
round  to  all  his  creditors  an'd  pay  his  debts.  This  most  Chris- 
tian conduct  won  him  golden  opinions  and  formed  a  capital  in- 
troduction to  the  preaching  of  the  Gospel  ;  for  Olivers  had  now 
begun  to  exercise  his  rare  gifts  in  that  direction.  Returning  to 
Bradford,  he  was  soon  appointed  by  John  Wesley  as  a  travel- 
ling preacher.  After  preaching  in  many  parts  of  England  and 
enduring  the  usual  amount  of  hardship  and  risk  to  life  and 
lirnb  incident  to  the  field-preacher's  work  in  those  days,  he 
finally  settled  in  London  as  John  Wesley's  editor,  having  charge 
of  the  Arminian  Magazine,  and  other  publications,  for  which 
Wesley  was  responsible.  This  office  he  held  for  twelve  years  ; 
but  he  was  never  quite  fit  for  it,  and  his  chief  was  reluctantly 
compelled  at  last  to  put  a  more  scholarly  man  in  his  place. 

In  the  controversy  between  Wesley  and  Toplady  on  Pre- 
destination, etc.,  a  controversy  marked  by  the  worst  features  of 
the  time,  the  fiery  Welshman  was  put  forward  to  take  the  lead- 
ing part  on  the  Arminian  side.  Nothing  could  exceed  the 
severity  of  Toplady's  remarks  and  the  fierceness  of  his  attacks, 
both  on  the  character  and  teaching  of  the  veteran  preacher, 
John  Wesley,  whom  all  the  world  now  agrees  to  honor  as  one 
of  the  most  devout,  unselfish,  and  useful  men  who  have  adorn- 
ed the  Christian  Church  in  any  age.  Right  manfully  did  the 
"  Welsh  Cobbler,"  as  Olivers  was  contemptuously  styled,  stand 
up  for  the  doctrine  of  free  grace.  In  his  hands  Wesley  was 
quite  content  to  leave  the  work  of  reply  to  Toplady  'sZanckius, 
quietly  remarking,  "  I  can  only  make  a  few  strictures,  and 
leave  the  young  man  Toplady  to  be  further  corrected  by  one 
that  is  fully  his  match,  Thomas  Olivers." 

Tyerman  *  speaks  of  Olivers  as  a  man  of  high  intellectual 
power  ;  but  "laments  that  the  fiery  Welshman  undertook  to 

*  "  Life  of  Wesley,"  vol.  iii.  p.  108.  London  :  Hodder  &  Stoughton, 
1870. 


234  ILLUSTRIOUS   SHOEMAKERS. 

meet  the  furious  Predestinarian  with  the  not  too  respectable 
weapons  of  his  own  choosing.'7  What  this  means  may  l>c 
imagined  by  the  following  sample  of  Toplndy's  personalities  in 
this  strife  of  tongues.  He  says,  "  Mr.  Wesley  skulks  for  shel- 
ter under  a  cobbler's  apron  ;"  and  again,  "  Has  Tom  the  Cob- 
bler more  learning  and  integrity  than  John  the  Priest  ?"  It 
must  be  confessed  that  Cobbler  Tom  hit  hard  in  reply.  But 
an  end  has  now  come  to  the  discreditable  and  useless  strife  ; 
and,  happily,  it  is  in  no  danger  of  revival  ;  while  the  hymns 
written  by  the  pious  Calvinist  *  and  the  zealous  Arminian  are 
both  alike  sung  with  devout  emotion  wherever  the  Saviour's 
name  is  known  and  adored. 

Besides  several  controversial  tracts,  Olivers  wrote  a  number 
of  hymns,  and  is  known  as  the  composer  of  a  number  of  Psalm- 
tunes,  f  He  continued  his  ministry  in  London  till  March,  1799, 
when  he  died  at  the  age  of  seventy-four.  He  was  buried  in 
John  Wesley's  tomb,  in  the  City  Road  Chapel  Yard,  London, 
as  a  token  of  the  esteem  in  which  he  was  held  by  Wesley  and 
his  friends. 


THOMAS  HOLCROFT,  DRAMATIST,  NOVELIST,  ETC.f 

Thomas  Holcroft  was  a  much  more  noteworthy  man.  At 
the  time  of  the  State  Trials  he  had  made  a  considerable  name 
as  a  writer  of  political  novels.  In  his  "  Anna  St.  Ives"  and 
"  Hugh  Trevor"  he  had  exposed  the  follies  and  vices  of 
society  around  him,  and  had  set  forth  his  own  political  views  in 
a  manner  well  calculated  to  captivate  the  fancy  of  young  and 
ardent  reformers.  When  the  trial  of  Hardy  began,  Holcroft 
surrendered  himself  in  court,  deeming  it  base  and  unmanly  to 
refuse  to  share  the  fate  of  those  whose  political  views  he  had 
warmly  espoused.  Both  friends  and  foes  honored  him  for  his 
chivalrous  conduct  in  the  affair.  On  the  acquittal  of  his  friends 
he  was  discharged  without  a  trial. 

The  life  of  Holcroft  is  as  full  of  romance  as  any  of  those  de- 
picted in  his  novels.  He  was  born  in  London  in  1745.  Dur- 

*Toplady  wrote  the  fine  hymn  "Rock  of  Ages,"  etc. 

f  "  Helmsley"  has  been  set  down  to  Olivers  ;  but  Mr.  Benham  says 
it  was  composed  by  Martin  Madan,  Cowper's  uncle,  author  of 
"  Thelyphthwa."  See  Cowper's  "Poems,"  Globe  Ed.,  Intro.,  p.  34. 

J  "Memoirs  of  the  late  Thomas  Holcroft,  written  by  Himself,  and 
Continued  to  the  Time  of  his  Death  from  his  Diary,"  by  W.  Hazlitt. 
The  Traveller' s  Library,  vol.  xvii.  1856. 


THOMAS   HOLCROFT.  235 

ing  the  first  six  years  of  the  boy's  life,  his  father  was  a  shoe- 
maker. Giving  up  this  occupation  in  1751,  Holcroft,  senior, 
44  took  to  the  road"  as  a  hawker  and  peddler,  and  his  poor  child 
led  a  vagrant,  gypsy-like  life,  and  passed  through  privations 
which  he  could  never  afterward  think  of  without  shame  and  sor- 
row. And  yet  he  managed  to  turn  this  worst  period  of  his  life 
to  some  account.  The  first-hand  knowledge  it  afforded  him  of 
nature  and  human  affairs  gave  freshness  and  power  to  the  com- 
edies and  dramas  written  in  later  years.  During  these  early 
years  his  father  taught  him  to  read  out  of  the  Bible,  and  such 
was  his  progress,  that  in  a  little  while  the  daily  task  consisted 
of  eleven  chapters.  These,  he  tells  us,  he  could  often  have 
missed  by  telling  a  falsehood,  which  his  conscience  never  would 
allow  ;  and,  besides  this,  he  had  no  wish  to  evade  the  task,  for 
the  stories  of  the  Old  Testament  were  so  fall  of  interest  to  his 
boyish  mind,  that  he  was  eager  to  go  on  to  the  end.  While  his 
father  and  mother  were  engaged  as  hawkers,  young  Holcroft 
was  sent  out  to  beg.  In  this  miserable  employment  he  became 
quite  an  expert  ;  and,  like  many  another  unfortunate  beggar,  'lie 
was  led  to  draw  on  his  imagination  for  tales  to  answer  his  pur- 
pose. On  returning  home  he  would  recount  his  adventures,  and 
repeat  the  marvellous- stories  he  had  invented,  until  his  father, 
who  at  first  admired  the  lad's  gift  as  a  romancer,  came  to  be 
ashamed  of  allowing  him  to  lead  such  an  idle  and  mischievous 
life,  and  put  a  stop  to  his  escapades. 

After  this  he  was  employed  as  a  stable-boy  and  jockey  at 
Newmarket.  The  change  in  his  circumstances  thus  brought 
about  was  a  very  happy  one,  for  he  had  now  good  fare,  a  com- 
fortable bed  to  sleep  on,  decent  or  rather  smart  clothes,  of 
which  he  was  not  a  little  proud  ;  and,  added  to  all  this,  a  cer- 
tain position  in  respectable  society  !  His  father  had  a  friend  at 
Newmarket  who  had  a  taste  for  reading,  and  followed  the 
"  profession"  of  feeder  and  trainer  of  gamecocks  for  the  pit. 
This  man  was  struck  with  Thomas  Holcroft's  natural  ability, 
and  lent  him  books  to  read,  such  as  the  "  Spectator"  and 
"  Gulliver's  Travels."  While  at  Newmarket  he  was  one  day 
passing  a  church,  and  stopped  to  listen  to  the  music  of  the 
choir,  then  engaged  in  practice.  He  ventured  to  enter  the 
church,  and  feeling  a  strong  desire  to  learn  to  sing,  spoke  to 
the  leader.  Mr.  Langham,  who,  finding  the  stable-boy  had  a 
good  voice,  admitted  him  into  the  choir.  He  threw  himself  so 
heartily  into  this  new  and  fascinating  study,  that  it  was  not 
long  before  he  could  read  music  and  sing  in  good  style. 


230  ILLUSTRIOUS   SHOEMAKERS. 

At  the  age  of  sixteen,  he  again  went  to  live  with  his  father, 
who  had  once  more  returned  to  the  shoemaker's  stall,  and  lived 
in  London.  Here  he  learned  enough  of  the  trade  to  earn  a 
livelihood,  but  he  involved  himself  in  premature  cares  by  an 
imprudent  marriage  when  only  twenty  years  of  age. 

And  now  the  passion  for  a  roving  life  got  the  better  of  him, 
and  quitting  the  monotony  of  a  cobbler's  room,  he  betook  him- 
self to  the  stage.  For  seven  years  he  led  the  life  of  a  strolling 
player,  4<  and  sounded  all  the  depths  and  shoals"  of  misery  in- 
cident to  such  a  precarious  existence. 

It  was  not  till  after  his  thirtieth  year  that  he  began  to  acquire 
settled  habits  of  study,  to  learn  the  languages — French,  Ger- 
man, and  Italian  — in  which  he  afterward  became  a  ready  trans- 
lator, and  to  set  about  any  kind  of  literary  work.  The  first 
products  of  his  pen  appeared  in  the  Whitehall  Evening  Post. 
He  was  in  his  thirty-fifth  year  when  his  first  novel,  k4  Alwyn, 
or  the  Gentleman  Comedian/'  appeared.  The  year  after 
this  saw  the  issue  of  his  earliest  comedy,  Duplicity,  which 
was  put  on  the  stage  at  Covent  Garden  Theatre,  and  had  a 
good  run  of  success.  This  was  followed  by  some  thirty  dra- 
matic pieces  of  one  kind  or  other,  in  poetry  or  prose,  comedies 
and  comic  operas,  dramas  and  melodramas,  which  last  he  had 
the  credit  of  introducing  into  England.  The  Road  to  Ruin  is 
accounted,  by  some  judges  of  note,  the  best  of  his  dramas. 
Holcroft  was  a  man  of  versatile  powers  and  great  industry.  II is 
natural  gifts  were  remarkable,  and  his  extensive  knowledge  was 
almost  entirely  self-acquired.  As  already  indicated,  he  was  a 
very  prolific  author.  Besides  the  three  novels  and  the  plays 
referred  to  above,  he  issued  translations  from  the  French  of 
Toucher  d'Obsonville  and  Pierre  de  Long  ;  from  the  German, 
Goethe's  "  Herman  and  Dorothea  ;"  and  from  the  Italian.  Her 
spent  much  of  his  time  in  Germany  and  France,  and  his  inter- 
esting work,  4C  Travels  into  France,"  is  one  of  his  most  valued 
productions.  Thomas  Holcroft  died  23d  March,  1809,  at  the 
age  of  sixty-four,  having  crowded  as  much  work  into  his  event- 
ful life  as  most  of  the  leading  men  of  his  time. 


JOSEPH  BLACKET,  POET,  "THE   SON  OF   SORKOW." 

At  the  beginning  of  this  century  there  were  two  young  shoe- 
makers in  London  who  were  spending  their  leisure  time  in  hard 
reading  and  attempts  at  musical  composition.  One  of  them, 


JOSEPH   BLACKET 


JOSEPH    BLACKET.  239 

Robert  Bloomfield,  a  sketch  of  whom  has  already  been  given,* 
is  known  as  widely  as  the  English  language  itself.  The  other, 
Joseph  Blacket,  made  but  little  stir  in  the  world,  and  is  now 
Avell-nigh  forgotten.  He  took  to  writing  poetry  at  a  much  ear- 
lier age  than  Bloomfield,  who  wrote  nothing  before  his  six- 
teenth year,  while  Blacket,  if  we  may  trust  the  notes  in  his 
44  Specimens"  and  "  Remains,"  began,  very  characteristically, 
with  "  The  Sigh,"  written  at  ten  years  of  age.  His  unhappy 
life  was  brought  to  a  close  when  he  was  but  twenty-four  years 
old.  At  this  age  Bloomfield  had  written  very  little  poetry,  and 
44  The  Farmer's  Boy"  was  not  begun.  But  if  his  genius  ripen- 
ed slowly,  it  produced  fruits  far  more  valuable  than  those  pre- 
sented to  the  world  by  the  precocity  of  poor  Blacket.  There 
is  nothing  of  Blacket's  to  compare  with  44  The  Fanner's  Boy," 
or  4'  Richard  and  Kate,"  or  44  The  Fakenham  Ghost."  It  is 
interesting  to  know  that  the  two  poetical  sons  of  Crispin  were 
acquainted,  and  cherished  a  high  regard  for  each  other.  They 
seem  to  have  met  at  the  house  of  Mr.  Pratt,  Blacket's  patron 
and  editor,  and  afterward  to  have  exchanged  copies  of  each 
other's  works,  accompanied  by  friendly  letters.  What  Bloom- 
field  thought  of  his  young  friend  may  be  gathered  from  the  fol- 
lowing portion  of  a  letter  :  44  The  instant  I  received  your  vol- 
ume I  resolved  to  shake  hands  with  you,  by  letter  at  least,  and 
to  thank  you  for  a  pleasure  of  no  common  sort.  The  '  Con- 
flagration '  is  so  truly  full  of  fire  that  it  almost  burns  one's  fin- 
gers to  read  it.  4  Saragossa  '  is  a  noble  poem.  Choose  your 
own  themes,  and  let  the  master-tints  of  your  mind  have  full 
play." 

In  a  letter  to  his  friend  Mr.  Pratt,  Blacket  says  that  he  was 
born  in  1786  at  Tunstill,  five  miles  from  Richmond,  in  York- 
shire. His  father  was  a  day-laborer,  who  had  eight  children  to 
provide  for  at  the  time  Joseph  was  old  enough  for  school.  \  It 
was  therefore  fortunate  for  him  that  the  village  schoolmistress 
took  a  fancy  for  him,  and  taught  him  for  nothing.  He  stayed 

*  It  may  be  thought  by  some  readers  that  Bloomfield's  brothers, 
George  and  Nathaniel,  ought  to  have  a  place  in  our  list  of  illustrious 
shoemakers.  George,  in  his  correspondence  with  Mr.  Capel  Lofft, 
Robert's  patron,  showed  himself  a  man  of  good  sense  and  a  fair  writer. 
See  preface  to  Bloomfield's  Poems.  But  Nathaniel,  the  author  of  a 
little  volume  of  poems,  edited  by  Capel  Lofft,  1803,  entitled,  "An  Essay 
on  War/'  in  blank  verse,  and  "Honington  Green,  a  Ballad,"  was  not 
a  shoemaker.  He  was  a  tailor,  though  not  a  few  writers  have  made 
Byron's  mistake  of  classing  him  with  "ye  tuneful  cobblers." 

f  Blacket  s  "Remains,"  preface,  vol.  i.  pp.  62,  63.     London,  1811. 


240  ILLUSTRIOUS   SHOEMAKERS. 

with  her  until  he  was  seven,  and  then  went  to  a  school  taught 
by  a  master.  At  the  age  of  eleven  he  was  removed  to  London, 
his  brother  John  having  engaged  to  provide  a  home  for  him  and 
teach  him  his  trade  during  the  next  seven  years.  In  this  respect 
his  position  was  very  similar  to  that  of  Bloomfield,  whose 
brother  George  became  the  guardian  of  the  shy  Suffolk  lad 
when  he  first  went  up  to  London.*  John  Blacket  was  so  anxious 
that  his  ward  should  not  forget  his  little  learning  that  he  often 
kept  the  lad  at  home  to  write  on  Sunday.  There  were  such 
books  in  John's  library  as  "  Josephus,"  "  Eusebius*  Church 
History, "  "  Fox's  Martyrs/7  all  of  which  were  read  through  by 
the  time  Joseph  was  fifteen  years  of  age,  "  At  that  time,"  he 
says,  t4  the  drama  was  totally  unknown  to  me  ;  a  play  I  had 
neither  seen  nor  read."  One  evening  a  companion  called  on 
him  and  begged  him  to  go  and  see  Kemble  play  Richard  the 
Third  at  Drury  Lane.  His  brother  John  refused  consent  at 
first,  but  yielded  at  last  to  the  clever  strategy  of  an  appeal  made 
in  a  few  impromptu  verses,  which  so  greatly  pleased  and  sur- 
prised the  fond  brother,  that  he  at  once  "  gave  him  leave  tog<>, 
together  with  a  couple  of  shillings  to  defray  his  expenses." 
From  this  time  forth  he  devoted  himself  to  the  study  of  the 
poets  Milton,  Pope,  Young,*  Otway,  Rowe,  Beattie,  Thomp- 
son, but  especially,  and  for  a  time  almost  exclusively,  to  Shake- 
speare. As  a  young  poet  it  is  said  of  him  that  "  His  anxiety 
to  produce  something  that  should  be  thought  worthy  of  the  pub- 
lic in  the  form  of  a  drama  appears  to  have  surpassed  all  his 
other  cares.  .  .  .  Something  of  the  dramatic  kind  pervades 
the  whole  ma?s  of  his  papers.  I  have  traced  it  on  hills,  re- 
ceipts, backs  of  letters,  shoe  patterns,  slips  of  paper  hangings, 
grocery  wrappers,  magazine  covers,  battalion  orders  for  the  vol- 
unteer corps  of  St.  Pancras,  in  which  he  served,  and  on  vari- 
ous other  scraps  on  which  his  ink  could  scarcely  be  made  to 
retain  the  impression  of  his  thoughts  ;  yet  most  of  them 
crowded  on  both  sides  and  much  interlined."  f 

Like  most  ardent  young  students  in  poor  circumstances, 
Blacket  was  reckless  of  his  health,,  His  hard  work  by  day  and 
loss  of  nightly  sleep  sowed  the  seeds  of  the  disease  to  which  he 
eventually  fell  a  victim,  lie  married  very  young,  and  had  the 
misfortune  to  lose  his  wife  when  he  was  only  twenty-one  years 
of  age.  A  sister  who  carne  to  nurse  her  was  taken  ill  of  brain 

.  *  Blacket's  "Remains,"  preface,  vol.  i.  pp.  27. 
f  Editor  of  Blacket's  "Remains,"  Letters,  pp.  9,  10. 


JOSEPH    BLACKET.  241 

fever,  and  nearly  lost  her  life.  "  Judge  of  my  situation,"  he 
says  to  his  friend  Mr.  Pratt,  "  a  dear  wife  stretched  on  the  bed 
of  death  ;  a  sister  senseless,  whose  dissolution  I  expected  every 
•hour  ;  an  infant  piteously  looking  round  for  its  mother  ;  cred- 
itors clamorous,  friends  cold  or  absent.  I  found,  like  the  mel- 
ancholy Jaques,  that  i  when  the  deer  was  stricken  the  herd 
would  shun  him. '  '  In  this  wretched  position  he  was  obliged 
to  sell  everything  to  pay  his  debts.  No  wonder  that  he  became 
a  "  son  of  sorrow,"  and  that  most  of  the  poetry  written  after 
this  date  bears  the  marks  of  gloom  and  distraction  of  mind. 
Yet  it  must  be  confessed  that'  when  the  young  poet  sought  to 
enter  on  his  literary  career  by  the  publication  of  his  poems,  he 
had  no  cause  to  complain  of  want  of  friends.  Mr.  Marchant, 
a  printer,  took  kindly  to  him,  and  published  his  first  copies  of 
"  Specimens"  free  of  expense.  It  was  he  who  introduced  the 
young  aspirant  for  poetical  fame  to  Mr.  Pratt,  the  editor  of 
the  "  Remains,"  who  seems,  from  the  letters  published,  to  have 
been  a  man  of  considerable  means,  but  not  of  the  best  judg- 
ment in  literary  affairs.  This  friend  had  the  most  exalted 
notions  of  the  "  genius"  of  his  protege,  showed  him  the  utmost' 
kindness  till  the  day  of  his  death,  and  took  charge  of  the  funds 
raised  by  the  publication  of  his  "  Remains,"  investing  them  in 
behalf  of  the  poet's  orphan  child.  In  August,  1809,  Blacket 
removed  to  Seaham,  Durham,  to  the  house  of  a  brother-in-law, 
gamekeeper  to  Sir  Ralph  Milbanke  of  Castle  Eden.  The  bar- 
onet and  his  family  were  very  kind  to  him  ;  a  horse  was  lent 
him  ;  dainty  food  was  sent  down  for  him  from  the  castle  ; 
doctors  were  procured  who  attended  him  gratis  ;  Lady  Milbanke 
and  Miss  Milbanke,  afterward  Lady  Byron,  visited  him  con- 
stantly, and  interested  others  in  his  behalf  ;  among  them  the 
Duchess  of  Leeds,  who  procured  a  large  number  of  subscribers 
to  his  volume  of  "  Specimens."  *  No  effort  was  spared  by 
either  doctors  or  friends  to  save  his  life  and  to  ensure  his  repu- 
tation as  a  poet  ;  but  to  no  purpose,  as  it  seemed,  in  either 
case.  He  died  of  consumption  on  the  23d  of  September,  1810, 
at  the  house  of  his  brother-in-law,  and  was  buried  in  Seaham 
churchyard  by  his  friend  Mr.  Wallis,  rector  of  the  parish,  who 
had  been  a  Christian  counsellor  and  comforter  to  the  young 
poet  during  his  long  illness.  At  his  own  request,  Miss  Milbanke 

*  That  these  generous  friends  labored  to  some  purpose  may  be 
judged  from  the  fact  that  after  Blacket' s  little  legacies  and  funeral 
expenses  were  paid,  £97  10s.  remained  over  for  the  benefit  of  his 
child.  "  Remains,"  p.  101. 


ILLUSTRIOUS   SHOEMAKERS. 


selected  the  spot  for  his  grave,  and  caused  a  suitable  monu- 
ment to  be  placed  over  it,  on  which  were  inscribed  the  lines, 
taken  from  his  own  poem,  "  Reflections  at  Midnight'  '- 

"  Shut  from  the  light,  'mid  awful  gloom, 
Let  clay-cold  honor  rest  in  state  ; 
And,  from  the  decorated  tomb, 
Keceive  the  tributes  of  the  great. 

"  Let  me,  when  bade  with  life  to  part 
And  in  my  narrow  mansion  sleep, 
Keceive  a  tribute  from  the  heart, 
Nor  bribe  one  sordid  eye  to  weep." 


DAVID    SEKVICE,    AND   OTHER    SONGSTERS   OF   THE   COB- 
BLER'S   STALL. 

David  Service  of  Yarmouth  represents  a  pretty  numerous  class 
of  songsters  of  the  cobbler's  stall,  worthy  men  in  their  way, 
but  writers  of  inferior  merit,  of  whom  much  cannot  be  said. 
Such  writers  were  John  Foster  of  Winteringham,  Lincolnshire, 
who  owed  the  publication  of  his  "  Serious  Poems,"  in  1793,  to 
the  kindness  of  the  vicar  of  the  parish  ;  J.  Johnstone,  a  Scotch- 
man, who  published  a  small  volume  of  poems  in  1823  ;  the  Rev. 
James  Nichol  of  Traquair,  Selkirkshire,  who  in  his  shoemaking 
days  "  published  two  or  three  volumes  of  poetry."  Gavin 
Wilson,  of  Edinburgh,  who,  MI  1788,  published  "  A  Collection 
of  Masonic  Songs,"  of  whom  Campbell  says  :  **  I  knew  Gavin 
Wilson  ;  he  wa^  an  honest,  merry  fellow,  and  a  good  boot, 
leather-leg,  arm,  and  hand  maker,  but  as  sorry  a  poetaster  as 
ever  tried  a  couplet."  f  James  JJwlin,  a  man  of  versatile  gifts 
and  most  irregular  habits,  who  by  turns  wrote  poetry,  corre- 
sponded for  the  Daily  News,  and  contributed  to  the  Spectator, 
Builder,  and  Notes  and  Queries,  and  died  about  twenty  years 
ago  in  poverty  and  obscurity.  J  These  men,  as  regards  their 
literary  merit  and  fame,  excepting  perhaps  the  last,  are  well 
represented  by  the  herdboy  from  the  banks  of  the  Clyde,  who, 
after  serving  his  time  asasutor  at  Greenock,  journeyed  south  in 
search  of  work,  and  settled  at  Yarmouth,  Norfolk,  and  there, 
at  the  age  of  twenty-seven,  published  a  "  Rural  Poem,"  called 
"  The  Caledonian  Herdboy, "  in  1802.  Two  years  after  he  was 

*  "Crispin  Anecdotes,"  pp.  87,  88. 

f  Ibid. 

J  "Campion's  Delightful  History, "  p.  81. 


JOHN    STRUTHERS.  243 

encouraged  by  his  friends  to  issue  "  The  Wild  Harp's  Mur- 
murs" and  "  St.  Crispin,  or  the  Apprentice  Boy,"  the  former 
being  dedicated  to  that  friend  of  unknown  young  poets,  Capel 
Lofft,  the  friend  of  the  Bloomfields  and  Kirke  White.  His  last 
adventure  in  this  line  bore  the  romantic  title  "  A  Voyage  and 
Travels  in  the  Region  of  the  Brain."  This  verse  occurs  in  one 
of  his  publications — 

"  '  Apollo,  why,'  a  matron  cried, 

*  Are  poets  all  so  poor  ? ' 

*  They  write  for  fame,'  Apollo  cried, 

*  And  seldom  ask  for  more. ' ' ' 

But  this  poet,  it  is  to  be  feared,  obtained  neither  wealth  nor 
fame. 

He  became  an  inmate  of  the  Yarmouth  Workhouse,  and 
died  there  on  the  13th  of  March,  1825.  And  his  "  memorial," 
like  that  of  many  another  local  celebrity,  has  well-nigh  per- 
ished with  him. 


JOHN  STKUTHEKS,  POET,  EDITOK,  ETC. 

John  Struthers,  a  Scottish  poet,  the  friend  of  Sir  Walter 
Scott  and  Joanna  Baillie,  followed  the  trade  of  a  shoemaker  for 
many  years  after  he  had  begun  to  gain  a  literary  reputation. 
He  was  born  at  Kilbride  in  Lanarkshire  in  1776,  and  learned  his 
trade  in  his  own  home,  for  his  father  was  a  member  of  the 
same  craft.  Struthers  is  best  known  in  Scotland  as  the  author 
of  "  The  Poor  Man's  Sabbath,"  a  simple,  unpretentious  poem, 
which  appeared  in  1804,  and  rapidly  passed  through  several 
editions.*  His  success  in  this  first  venture  led  to  the  publica- 
tion of  "The  Peasant's  Death,"  in  1806  ;  •'  The  Winter's 
Day,"  in  1811  ;  "  The  Plough,"  in  1816  ;  "  The  Dechmont," 
in  1836.  He  was  the  editor  of  a  Scottish  anthology,  called  "  The 
Harp  of  Caledonia,"  in  three  volumes,  to  which  his  friends 
Sir  Walter  Scott  and  Joanna  Baillie  ' '  sent  voluntary  contribu- 
tions." He  wrote  a  history  of  Scotland  from  the  Union, 
17.07  to  1827,  by  which  his  reputation  was  greatly  enhanced. 

*  Of  "  The  Sabbath,"  a  writer  in  the  Quarterly  Review,  January, 
1831  (p.  77),  says  it  is  "a  poem  of  which  unaffected  piety  is  not  the 
only  inspiration,  and  which  but  for  its  unfortunate  coincidence  of  sub- 
ject with  the  nearly  contemporary  one  of  the  late  amiable  James 
Graham e,  would  probably  have  attracted  a  considerable  share  of  favor, 
even  in  these  hypercritical  days." 


11.!  LKKRS. 

^nsiderable  number  of  the  1 
of  Illustrious  Scotchmen"  I  ;i>  pen. 

he  held  the  position  of  | 

Oo.,  of  Glasgow.      In  made   librarian  in  S 

Library,  which  office  he  held   until  within  a  few  years  of  his 
death  in   1853.     His  poetical  :.nd  pub- 

lished by  himself  in   1850.      J  lent 

specimen  of  a  shrewd,  inte  „- minded  Scotchman.* 

JOHN  O'NEILL,  THE  POET   OF   T 

The  name  of  John  O'Neill  is  in:  with  that 

of  George  Crniekshank  in  the  work  of  temperance  reform  ; 

>nly  did  < 

shoemaker  and  poet  by  illustrating  his  lit: 
Blessings  of  Temperance,"  but  it  is  wit  I 
that  these  illustrations  and  the  scenes  depicted  in  the  poem  if 

1  to  the  artist  the  \  i  «nit  in 

of  plates  entitled  i4  Tbe  Bottle."     Some  of  these  ski-: 
for  example,  k<  The  Upas  Tree"  an-:  :iia.'  and 

the  Drivelling  Fool,"  derive  their  titles  from  O'Neill's  lam: 
in  the  poem  itself.    So  closely,  indeed,  do  the  grapi. 
the  artist  and  the  poet  correspond,  t  ill  in  the  later  edi- 

tions of  his  li  Cruiek- 

shank's  *  Bottle.'  "  f     On  its  ti:  ance  the  poem  was  en- 

titled 4t  The  Drunkard,"  and  recei\  -able  notice  in  the 

pages  of  the  Athenatum  and  the  Spectator.  ther  journals 

and  papers  of  less  literary  merit.      "  The  Drunkard"  w.i>  n->t  his 
first  work,  but  it  was  his  best,  and  the  inch  his  name 

came  known  and  honored  aiiMm;  teetotallers.      A-  321 

lie  had  published  a  drama  entitled  **  Alva."      '*  The  Sorro 
Memory*'  and   a  number  of  Irish  melod  Cer- 

ent periods  in  his  life  ntle  later.      His  friend  the 

Rev.  Isaac  Doxscy,  in  <  of 

Temperance/  >f   O'Neill  as  the   author   • 

matic  pieces,  a  collection  of  poems,  and  a  novel  called  "  Mary 
of  Avonmore,  or  the  Foundling  of  the  1>  nd  of  numer- 

ous contributions  to  various  periodicals. 

*  "Imperial  Dictionary  of  Biography."     Glasgow:  Blackio 
f  "The  Blessings  of  Temperance.  II  :i  the  Lift 

ormation  of  the  Drunkard  :  a  Poem  by  Jolm  O'NVill.  etc.,  forming  a 
Companion  to  Cru:  :u  his  pen 

London  :  "W.  Tweedie.     1851.     Fourth  edition. 


JOHN    O  XEILL.  240 

Jolin  O'Neill  was  an  Irishman,  born  at  Waterford  on  the  8th 
of  January,  1777.  His  mother  was  in  wretched  circumstances 
at  the  time  of  his  birth,  having  been  deserted  by  a  worthless 
husband,  who  left  her  and  her  little  family  to  the  care  of  for- 
tune. As  a  boy  he  was  very  slow  to  learn,  and  gave  no  indica- 
tion of  the  gifts  he  afterward  displayed.  He  and  his  brother, 
much  his  senior,  were  apprenticed  to  a  relative  who  acted  as  a 
sort  of  guardian  to  the  boy?.  O'Neill's  mind  was  first  awak- 
ened to  a  love  for  poetry  by  a  drama  in  rhyme  entitled  "  The 
Battle  of  Aughrim,"  by  a  shoemaker  named  Ansell,  which  he 
committed  to  memory.  On  leaving  the  service  of  his  first  mas- 
ter he  became  an  apprentice  to  his  brother,  but  soon  quarrelled 
and  the  indentures  Were  thrown  into  the  fire.  During  the  Re- 
bellion of  1798  and  1799,  when  food  was  at  famine  prices,  he 
lived  in  great  poverty  at  Dublin  and  Carrick-on-Suir  ;  and  in 
the  latter  place,  notwithstanding  the  miserable  state  of  his 
affairs,  he  found  some  one  with  love  and  courage  sufficient  to 
enable  her  to  become  his  wife.  It  was  at  this  time  also  that  he 
began  to  read  in  earnest,  chiefly  poetry,  though  nothing  came 
amiss,  and,  as  a  matter  of  course,  every  book  was  borrowed. 
The  first-fruits  of  his  poetic  genius,  if  the  term  be  permissible, 
were  presented  to  the  world  in  a  little  satirical  poem  written  at 
Carrick,  li  The  Clothier's  Looking-Glass. "  This  was  designed 
to  expose  what  was  regarded  as  the  cruelty  and  heartlessness  of 
the  master-clothiers  in  uniting  to  reduce  the  wages  of  the  men. 
O'Neill  was  induced  to  contribute  to  this  trade  dispute  by  a  man 
named  Stacey,  a  printer,  under  whose  guidance  the  shoemaker 
acquired  some  knowledge  of  the  art  of  printing,  and  set  up  a 
press.  The  press  was  a  capital  adjunct  to  the  pen,  which  the 
active  young  shoemaker  and  amateur  printer  was  now  using 
pretty  freely. 

At  this  time  he  became  a  strong  political  partisan,  and  used 
both  his  pen  and  press  in  an  election  contest  in  favor  of  General 
Matthew,  brother  of  the  Earl  of  Llandaff.  It  was  the  Earl's 
promise  of  patronage  that  induced  O'Neill  to  leave  Ireland  and 
settle  in  London,  some  time  in  1812  or  1813.  This  promise 
was  never  redeemed,  for  the  Earl  about  this  time  became  a  res- 
ident in  Naples.  Disheartened  by  his  disappointment,  the  poor 
shoemaker  dropped  for  a  time  all  reading  and  literary  toil  and 
aspiration,  and  stuck  doggedly  and  sullenly  to  his  last. 

For  seven  years  he  seems  to  have  neither  read  nor  written 
anything.  At  length  a  long  period  of  il  enforced  leisure,"  oc- 
casioned by  an  accident  which  made  work  with  the  awl  impos- 


246  ILLUSTRIOUS   SHOEMAKERS. 

sible,  compelled  him  to  betake  himself  to  reading,  and  thus  his 
mind  was  roused  from  its  torpor.  An  English  translation  of  a 
volume  of  Spanish  novels  fell  in  his  way,  and  its  perusal  sug- 
gested the  subject  for  the  drama  Alva,  which,  as  we  have 
said,  he  published  in  1821.  His  other  works  are  named 
above.  None  of  these  seem  to  have  brought  him  much  profit, 
neither  were  his  attempts  at  "  business  for  himself/'  once  as 
a  master-shoemaker  and  again  as  a  huckster,  at  all  successful. 
On  several  occasions  he  was  assisted  by  grants  from  the  Liter- 
ary Fund,  and  was  thankful  for  the  kindly  aid  afforded  him  by 
his  friends  the  teetotalers. 

In  spite  of  all  his  hard  work  as  a  shoemaker,  and  his  many 
little  literary  adventures  (perhaps  because  of  them),  he  was  in 
his  old  age  a  very  poor  man.  Mr.  Doxsey  says  in  1851, 
44  John  O'Neill  and  his  aged  partner  dwell  in  a  miserable  gar- 
ret in  St.  Giles's."  In  his  poor  earthly  estate  he  had  one  com- 
fort, at  all  events — he  did  not  44  suffer  as  an  evil-doer,"  and 
he  could  feel  pretty  sure  that  he  had  done  not  a  little  by  his 
graphic  pen  and  rude  eloquence  to  turn  many  a  sinner  from  a 
life  of  misery  and  shame.  His  death  occurred  on  the  3d  of 
February,  1858. 


JOHN  YOUNGER,  SHOEMAKER,  FLY-FISHER,  AND  POET. 

In  1860  a  charming  little  book  on  4<  River  Angling  for  Sal- 
mon and  Trout  "  *  was  added  to  our  extensive  angling  litera- 
ture by  a  devout  follower  of  Isaac  Walton.  The  preface 
showed  that  it  was  the  work  of  a  Lowland  Scotchman,  who  was 
accustomed  to  divide  his  time  between  the  two  "  gentle"  oc- 
cupations of  shoemaking  and  fishing,  and  that  this  man,  John 
Younger,  had  an  enthusiasm  for  other  things  besides  making 
fishing-boots  and  fishing-rods  and  lines,  and  the  sport  of  the 
river-side.  He  was  a  zealous  and,  we  had  almost  said,  a  des- 
perate politician.  He  made  corn-law  rhymes,  which  came  into 
the  hands  and  drew  forth  praise  from  the  pen  of  Ebenezer 
Elliott,  who  sent  the  best  copy  of  his  works  as  a  present  to  the 
poetical  shoemaker.  In  1834  Younger  tried  the  public  with  a 
volume  of  verse  under  the  quaint  title,  "  Thoughts  as  they 
Rise."  f  But  the  public,  like  the  shy  fish  of  some  of  his  own 
Scottish  rivers,  would  not  "  rise"  to  his  bait,  for  the  work  fell 

*  Kelso  :  Rutherford.     Edinburgh  :  Blackwood  &  Sons, 
f  Glasgow,  1834. 


CHARLES   CROCKER.  247 

uncommonly  flat.  He  was  much  more  successful  with  his 
*'  River  Angling,"  which  appeared  first  in  1840,  and  again, 
with  a  sketch  of  his  life,  in  1860.  In  1847  John  Younger  won 
the  second  prize  for  an  essay  on  "  The  Temporal  Advantages 
of  the  Sabbath  to  the  Working-Classes,"  and  it  was  a  proud 
day  for  him  and  his  neighbors  at  St.  BoswelPs  when  he  set  off 
to  go  up  to  London  to  receive  his  reward  of  £15  at  the  hands 
of  Lord  Shaftesbury  in  the  big  meeting  at  Exeter  Hall.  Young- 
er, who  was  all  his  life  a  brother  of  the  craft,  was  born  at 
Longnewton,  in  the  parish  of  Ancrum,  5th  July,  1785.  He 
died  and  was  buried  at  St.  BoswelPs  in  June,  1860.  As' we 
are  writing  we  observe  that  his  autobiography  *  has  just  been 
published,  concerning  which  a  writer  in  the  Athenceum  re- 
marks, j-  4t  John  Younger,  shoemaker,  fly-fisher,  and  poet,  has 
left  a  Life  which  is  certainly  worth  reading;"  and  adds, 
"  There  is  something  more  in  him  than  a  vein  of  talent  suffi- 
cient to  earn  a  local  celebrity."  With  this  opinion  agree  the 
remarks  of  the  Scotsman  and  the  Sunderland  Times,  which 
said  of  him  at  the  time  of  his  death,  "  One  of  the  most  re- 
markable men  of  the  population  of  the  South  of  Scotland, 
whether  as  a  genial  writer  of  prose  or  verse  or  a  man  of  high 
conversational  powers  and  clear  common-sense,  the  shoemaker 
of  St.  BoswelPs  had  few  or  no  rivals  in  the  South  ;"  and 
"  Nature  made  him  a  poet,  a  philosopher,  and  a  nobleman  ; 
society  made  him  a  cobbler  of  shoes."  He  was  certainly  a 
most  original  character,  and  his  originality  and  genius  appear 
in  every  chapter  of  his  Autobiography. 


CHAELES    CROCKER,  "THE   POOR  COBBLER  OF 
CHICHESTER. 

Charles  Crocker,  who  was  born  in  Chichester,  22d  June, 
1797,  was  the  son  of  poor  parents,  who  could  not  afford  to 
send  him  to  school  after  he  was  seven  years  of  age,  but  they 
were  assisted  by  friends  who  procured  him  admission  to  the 
Chichester  "  Greycoat  School."  He  was  sent  before  the  age 
of  twelve  to  work  as  a  shoemaker's  apprentice.  "  This  arrange- 
ment," he  says  in  the  brief  sketch  of  his  life  which  is  given  in 

*  "  Autobiography  of  John  Younger,  Shoemaker,  of  St.  BoswelTs." 
Kelso  :  J.  &  J.  H.  Rutherford,  1881. 
f  6th  May,  1882,  p.  564. 


'.MS  ILLI'STKIOLS    SHOEMAKERS. 

the  preface  to  his  poems,*  "  was  perhaps  rather  favorable  than 
otherwise  to  the  improvement  of  iny  mind,  for  the  sedentary 
labor  necessary  in  this  kind  of  employment,  while  it  keeps  the 
hands  fully  engaged,  gives  little  or  no  exercise  to  the  mental 
faculties,  consequently  the  mind  of  a  person  so  employed  may, 
without  any  hindrance  to  his  work,  find  occupation  or  amuse- 
ment in  intellectual  or  imaginative  pursuits."  His  youthful 
days  were  spent  in  hard  work  and  study.  Spite  of  his  school- 
ing, grammar  presented  a  great  difficulty  when  he  began  to 
apply  himself  seriously  to  literary  work.  lie  even  went  so  far 
as  to  commit  an  entire  book  to  memory  in  his  efforts  to  master 
the  art.  He  mentions  a  lecture  on  Milton  by  Thelwail  as 
having  given  him  much  help  in  trying  to  understand  the  struct- 
ure of  English  verse.  Besides  Milton,  Cowper,  Collins,  and 
Goldsmith  became  favorites,  and  he  committed  large  portions 
of  their  writings  to  memory,  and  so  learned  to  frame  a  styl<>. 
The  first  volume  of  his  poems  was  published  in  1830,  and  the 
third  in  1841.  He  also  wrote  u  A  Visit  to  Chichester  Cathe- 
dral," which  passed  through  several  editions.  Crocker  died  in 
1861. f 

*  "  The  Vale  of  Obscurity,  and  Other  Poems,"  by  Charles  Crocker, 
3d  edition.  Chichester  :  W.  H.  Mason,  1841. 

f  It  is  perhaps  best,  on  the  whole,  not  to  speak  of  living  men  in  such 
a  work  as  this.  An  exception  has,  however,  been  made  to  such  a  rule 
in  the  rare  instances  of  the  famous  politician,  poet,  and  preacher 
Thomas  Cooper,  and  the  American  poet  Whittier.  If  the  writer  did 
not  feel  the  necessity  of  adhering,  in  the  main,  to  this  rule,  it  would 
be  easy  enough  for  him  to  cite  many  instances  in  proof  of  tin-  state- 
ment that  the  literary  reputation  of  shoemakers  is  being  well  sustained 
in  the  present  day  by  writers  in  prose  and  poetry,  who  either  have 
been  or  still  are  working  at  the  stall.  Most  Scottish  sutors,oi}.e  would 
think,  have  heard  of  the  author  of  "  Homely  Words  and  Songs"  and 
"  Lays  and  Lectures  for  Scotia's  Daughters  of  Industry"  (Edinburgh, 
1853  and  185G).  London  craftsmen  know  and  honor  the  names  of 
J.  B.  Howe,  a  political  writer  and  poet,  and  John  B.  Leno,  the  editor 
of  "  St.  Crispin,"  and  author  of  the  "  Drury  Lane  Lyrics,"  "  Tracts  for 
Rich  and  Poor,"  and  "King  Labor's  Song-Book"  (London,  1867-68  ; 
see  also  ' '  Kimburton,  and  Other  Poems,"  London,  1875-76)  ;  and  the 
shoemaker  of  Wellinborough,  John  Askham,  by  his  "  Sonnets  of  the 
Months,""  Descriptive  Poems,"  and  "Judith"  (Northampton  :  Tay- 
lor &  Son,  1863,  1866,  1868,  and  1875),  has  made  a  reputation  which 
is  not  entirely  confined  to  his  own  locality,  nor  to  the  members  of  the 
craft  to  which  he  belongs. 


GEORGE   FOX.  249 


PREACHERS. 

GEORGE    FOX,  FOUNDER   OF    THE   SOCIETY  OF    FRIENDS. 

THE  name  of  George  Fox  belongs  to  the  list  of  practical 
philanthropists  ;  for  Fox  may  be  said  to  have  given  himself 
body  and  soul  to  the  good  of  his  fellow-men,  and  to  have  lived 
the  life  of  a  martyr  to  the  cause  to  which  he  felt  called  to 
consecrate  himself.  He  was  bt>rn  in  1624,  the  year  in  which 
Jacob  Boehmen  died.  We  are  the  more  inclined  to  notice 
this  coincidence  because  the  character  and  work  of  George  Fox 
suggest  a  comparison  between  the  two  men.  Both  men  were 
pietists  and  mystics  ;  but  in  this  alone  are  they  alike.  When 
we  look  at  their  life-work,  we  are  at  once  reminded  of  their 
nationality.  The  German  is  speculative,  the  Englishman  is 
practical  ;  the  one  turns  his  dreams  and  visions  into  books,  and 
the  other  into  acts.* 

George  Fox's  early  life  was  spent  near  his  native  place,* 
Drayton,  in  Leicestershire,  with  a  man  who  combined  the  occu- 
pations of  shoemaker  and  dealer  in  wool  and  cattle.  After  eight 
years'  service  with  this  master,  the  young  shoemaker,  then  at 
the  age  of  nineteen,  clad  in  a  leathern  doublet  of  his  own 
making,  went  forth  into  the  world  as  a  preacher  and  reformer. 
He  was  led  to  adopt  this  life  by  what  he  regarded  as  a  voice 
from  heaven.  He  had  been  to  a  fair,  and  was  grieved  by  the 
intemperance  of  two  of  his  youthful  friends  whom  he  saw  there. 
In  his  "  Journal"  he  speaks  of  the  effect  this  sight  produced 
upon  his  mind,  and  the  resolve  to  which  it  led  him.  <4  I  went 
away,"  he  says,  "  and  when  I  had  done  my  business,  returned 
home  ;  but  I  did  not  go  to  bed  that  night,  nor  could  I  sleep, 
but  sometimes  walked  up  and  down,  and  sometimes  prayed 
and  cried  to  the  Lord,  who  said  unto  me,  "  Thou  seest  how 
many  young  people  go  together  into  vanity,  and  old  people  into 
the  earth  ;  thou  must  forsake  all,  young  and  old,  keep  out  of 
all,  and  be  a  stranger  to  all.'  '  After  living  the  life  of  a  wan- 
dering preacher  for  a  few  years,  he  was  induced  to  return  home 
for  a  short  time,  but  the  voice  from  heaven  forbade  his  resist- 
ing, and  summoned  him  again  into  the  Lord's  vineyard.  In 
1648,  when  only  twenty -four  years  of  age,  he  began  to  preach 

*  All  the  writings  of  George  Fox  were  published  after  his  death. 
See  below. 


250  ILLUSTKIOUS   SHOEMAKERS. 

in  Manchester,  and  to  gather  round  him  a  number  of  adherents. 
From  Manchester  he  went  on  a  tour  through  the  northern 
counties  of  England.  Two  years  after  this  his  followers  began 
to  be  known  by  the  name  of  Quakers.  This  term  was  first 
used  by  Justice  Bennet  of  Derby,  before  whom  Fox  was  cited 
for  disturbing  the  peace.  In  1655  he  was  summoned  to  appear 
before  Cromwell,  who  dismissed  the  Leicestershire  shoemaker 
as  a  harmless  enthusiast,  whose  attempts  at  moral  and  religious 
reform  could  not  do  anything  but  good  among  the  people.  In 
fact,  Cromwell,  a  sturdy  Puritan  and  a  religious  enthusiast 
himself,  was  deeply  moved  by  the  spiritual  fervor  of  the  simple- 
hearted  preacher  ;  for  Fox,  who  never  feared  the  face  of  any 
man,  did  not  fail  to  speak  his  mind  to  Cromwell  on  religious 
matters.  As  the  preacher  left  the  room,  the  Protector  said  to 
him,  "  Come  again  to  my  house,  for  if  thou  and  I  were  but  an 
hour  of  a  day  together,  we  should  be  nearer  one  to  the  other." 
In  the  reign  of  Charles  II.,  when  the  anti-puritan  reaction 
set  in,  Fox  fared  far  worse  than  before.  Time  after  time  he 
was  thrown  into  prison  for  speaking  in  the  "  steeple-houses" 
(churches)  and  disturbing  public  worship.  It  was  not  at  all  an 
uncommon  thing  for  the  rough  preacher,  clad  in  his  leathern 
doublet,  to  stand  up  in  church  while  service  was  going  on,  and 
rebuke  the  lukewarmness  of  the  minister  and  the  formalism  of 
the  worshippers.  This  he  conceived  to  be  part  of  the  mission 
to  which  the  spirit-voice  had  called  him.  Nor  did  he  expect 
to  be  allowed  to  discharge  it  without  bringing  down  the  hand  of 
the  civil  authorities  upon  his  own  head.  But  he  had  counted  the 
cost,  and  was  prepared  to  suffer.  A  large  part  of  his  time  was 
spent  in  jail,  where  he  underwent  terrible  hardships  from  want 
of  food  and  clothing.  Nothing,  however,  could  daunt  his 
ardor,  or  make  him  "  disobedient  unto  the  heavenly  vision/' 
He  was  no  sooner  at  large  than  he  began  again  to  deliver  his 
message,  calling  on  men  to  listen  to  the  voice  of  Christ  within, 
and  to  reform  their  lives.  Surely  nothing  could  have  been 
more  pure,  more  simple,  and  more  unselfish  than  the  life  of 
this  devout  and  eccentric  preacher  of  the  gospel  of  love,  peace, 
and  truth  ;  yet  he  was  hounded  from  jail  to  jail  by  the  bigots 
of  his  day  as  if  he  had  been  a  common  vagrant  or  thief.  The 
sufferings  he  endured  at  the  hands  of  furious  mobs  are  often 
recorded  in  his  journal.  These  he  bore  with  the  utmost  meek- 
ness, as  a  firm  believer  in  the  doctrine  of  non-resistance  to 
evil.  Once  when  he  had  been  half  killed,  and  the  mob  stood 
round  him  as  he  lay  upon  the  floor,  he  says,  "  I  lay  still  a 


THOMAS    SHILLITOE.  251 

little  while,  and  the  power  of  the  Lord  sprang  through  me,  and 
eternal  refreshings  revived  me,  so  that  I  stood  up  again  in  the 
strengthening  power  of  the  eternal  God,  and  stretching  out  my 
arms  among  them,  I  said,  l  Strike  again  !  here  are  my  arms, 
my  head,  my  cheeks  ! '  Then  they  began  to  fall  out  among 
themselves. "  The  distinctive  principles  of  the  Society  of 
Friends,  of  which  George  Fox  was  the  founder,  are  too  well 
known  to  need  description  here.  In  1669  Fox  married  the 
widow  of  Judge  Fell.  After  visiting  Ireland,  America,  Hol- 
land, Denmark,  and  Prussia,  this  apostle  of  the  seventeenth  cen- 
tury returned  to  England,  and  died  in  London,  January  13th, 
1691,  at  the  age- of  sixty-seven. 

Spite  of  all  his  so-called  vagaries,  his  want  of  education  and 
culture  and  grasp  of  intellect,  the  Leicestershire  shoemaker,  by 
dint  of  moral  earnestness  and  undaunted  courage,  succeeded  in 
laying  the  foundation  of  a  religious  society,  which  in  propor- 
tion to  its  numbers  has  exerted  a  greater  moral  influence  than 
any  other  denomination  of  Christians.  His  "  Journal,"  which 
is  one  of  the  most  singular  records  of  mental  experience  and 
missionary  adventure  ever  written,  was  first  published  in  Itf94. 
His  "  Epistles7'  were  printed  in  1698,  and  his  "  Doctrinal 
Pieces"  in  1706. 


THOMAS    SHILLITOE,  THE    SHOEMAKER    WHO    STOOD 
BEFORE   KINGS. 

The  term  "  calling,"  as  applied  to  the  trade  or  occupation  a 
man  follows,  is,  or  rather  was,  originally  supposed  to  indicate  a 
belief  that  he  is  called  and  appointed  of  God  to  follow  it.  This 
belief  underlies  the  teaching  of  the  Church  Catechism,  f  How 
far  it  prevails  nowadays  it  would  be  hard  to  tell.  The  term 
seems  to  have  survived  the  belief  which  gave  rise  to  it  ;  for  one 
does  not  often  meet  with  instances  outside  the  Christian  min- 
istry in  which  men  regard  their  daily  avocation  as  a  veritable 
"  calling."  This,  however,  was  the  case  with  Thomas  Shil- 
litoe,  who  was  evidently  as  well  satisfied  of  his  "  call"  to  be  a 
shoemaker  as  of  his  Divine  commission  to  stand  before  kings 
and  rulers  as  a  witness  for  the  truth  of  God.  This  devout  man 
would  have  had  no  hesitation,  we  apprehend,  in  the  simplicity 
and  strength  of  his  conviction  about  the  matter,  to  speak  of 

*  See  answer  to  the  question,  ' '  What  is  thy  duty  toward  thy 
neighbor  ?" 


252  ILLUSTRIOUS   SHOEMAKERS. 

himself  as  "  called  to  be"  a  shoemaker.  He  was  a  member  of 
the  Society  of  Friends,  a  follower,  and  indeed  a  very  close 
follower,  in  the  spirit  and  method  of  his  life-work,  of  the 
apostolic  George  Fox.  Shillitoe's  "  Journal"  will  often  remind 
the  reader  of  the  records  and  experiences  of  the  shoemaker  of 
Leicestershire. 

Thomas  Shillitoe  was  born  in  Holborn,  London,  in  1754. 
His  father,  who  had  been  librarian  to  the  Society  of  Gray's 
Inn,  became  the  landlord  of  the  *'  Three  Tuns"  public  house, 
Islington,  when  Thomas  was  about  twelve  years  of  age. 
"  Merry  Islington"  was  then  a  village,  and  a  favorite  resort  of 
idlers  from  the  great  city.  Sundays  were  the  busiest  days  of 
the  week,  and  were  chiefly  spent  by  the  boy  in  waiting  on  his 
father's  customers.  At  the  age  of  sixteen  he  became  an  ap- 
prentice to  a  grocer,  whose  failure  very  soon  compelled  Thomas 
to  return  home.  About  this  time  he  began  to  attend  the 
meetings  of  the  Society  of  Friends.  This  led  to  serious 
thought  and  prayer,  and  the  resolve  to  lead  a  Christian  life  and 
unite  himself  with  these  earnest  Christian  people.  "  His 
father,  finding  he  was  thus  minded,  was  greatly  displeased, 
and  told  him  he  would  rather  have  followed  him  to  the  grave 
than  he  should  have  gone  among  the  Quakers,  and  he  was 
determined  he  should  at  once  quit  his  house."  But  the  youth 
was  prepared  for  such  a  severe  trial  as  this  by  that  strong  faith 
in  Divine  Providence  which  formed  the  most  marked  feature 
of  his  character  throughout  the  rest  of  his  life.  Nor  was  his 
faith  unrewarded,  for,  on  the  very  day  on  which  he  bade  good- 
by  to  his  father's  roof,  a  situation  was  offered  him  in  a  banking- 
house  in  Lombard  Street.  Here  he  remained  until  he  was 
twenty-four  years  of  age. 

He  was  at  this  time  very  anxious  to  become  a  preacher,  but 
dreaded  the  danger  of  "  running  before  he  was  sent,"  and  there- 
fore he  waited  for  the  Divine  voice  bidding  him  '*  Go  forth." 
But  before  he  could  be  made  fit  for  this  great  work  he  must 
learn  to  humble  himself  and  take  up  the  cross.  The  banking- 
house  and  its  surroundings  must  be  forsaken  ;  he  must  go  forth 
like  Moses  into  the  land  of  Midi  an,  like  Paul  into  Arabia,  and 
be  prepared  by  simpler  ways  of  life  for  the  stern  duties  of  the 
ministry  of  God's  word.  And  so  it  came  to  pass,  he  tells  us, 
that  one  Sunday  while  in  earnest  prayer  that  the  Lord  would 
be  pleased  to  direct  him,  "  He  in  mercy,  I  believe,  heard  my 
cries,  and  answered  my  supplications,  pointing  out  to  me  the 
business  I  was  to  be  willing  to  take  to  for  a  future  livelihood  as 


THOMAS   SHILL1TOE.  253 

intelligibly  to  my  inward  ear  as  ever  words  were  expressed 
clearly  and  intelligibly  to  my  outward  ear — that  I  must  be 
willing  to  humble  myself  and  learn  the  trade  of  a  shoemaker. 
This  caused  me  much  distress  of  mind,  as  my  salary  had  been 
small,  and  having  been  obliged  to  make  a  respectable  appear- 
ance, I  had  but  little  means  .to  pay  for  instruction  in  a  new  line 
of  business.  Yet  believing  I  was  to  keep  close  to  my  good 
Guide  and  He  would  not  fail  me,  I  entered  on  the  work,  though 
for  the  first  twelve  months  my  earnings  only  provided  me  at 
best  with  bread,  cheese,  and  water,  and  sometimes  only  bread, 
and  sitting  constantly  on  the  seat  made  it  hard  for  me,  yet 
both  I  and  my  instructor  soon  became  reconciled  to  it. "  His 
diligence  and  thrift  enabled  him  in  a  short  time  to  open  a  shop 
of  his  own  in  Tottenham,  and  to  employ  workmen.  It  was  not 
long  after  this  that  he  received  his  first  call  to  go  forth 
from  his  home  and  preach.  It  was  no  easy  matter  to  obey 
such  a  call  at  this  time.  His  young  wife  knew  nothing  of 
business,  and  the  foreman  was  not  very  trustworthy.  Still  the 
good  man  went  out  on  a  sort  of  missionary  tour  in  Norfolk,  and 
returned  home  to  find,  as  he  avers  he  always  did  find  on  return- 
ing from  such  a  mission,  that  the  words  of  Divine  promise 
spoken  to  his  inward  ear  were  verified  :  "  I  will  be  more  than 
bolts  and  bars  to  thy  outward  habitation,  more  than  a  master  to 
thy  servants,  for  I  can  restrain  their  wandering  minds  ;  more 
than  a  husband  to  thy  wife,  and  a  parent  to  thy  infant  children." 
After  continuing  at  the  craft  as  a  master-shoemaker  for  about 
twenty-seven  years,  Shillitoe  in  1805  found  that  he  had  saved 
enough  to  put  him  in  a  position  to  relinquish  business,  and  to 
devote  himself  more  fully  to  the  Christian  and  philanthropic 
work  to  which  he  believed  he  had  been  called  of  God.  He  paid 
several  visits  to  Ireland,  visiting  the  "  drinking-houses"  in 
every  town  to  which  he  went,  and  endeavoring  to  reform  the 
shocking  abuses  he  met  with  in  such  places.  First  of  all  he 
would  speak  with  the  "  keepers"  of  these  houses,  and  plead 
with  them  to  abolish  the  evils  he  saw  around  him  ;  and  then, 
turning  his  attention  to  the  company  of  drinkers,  revellers,  and 
dancers,  he  would  speak  to  them  in  such  tender  loving  tones, 
that  they  were  constrained  to  cease  their  rioting  and  listen  to 
the  faithful  servant  of  Christ.  He  and  his  companion  were 
rarely  molested  while  engaged  on  these  errands  of  mercy.  In 
some  instances  crowds  followed  them  to  listen  to  their  message, 
and  where  the  company  began  by  jeering  and  insulting  the 
visitors,  they  soon  settled  down  into  a  quiet  and  respectful 


254  ILLUSTRIOUS   SHOEMAKERS. 

demeanor.  When  at  Clonrnel  in  1810,  Shillitoe  writes  in  his 
journal  :  "  My  companion  used  often  to  say  it  seemed  as  if  the 
Good  Master  went  into  the  houses  before  us  to  prepare  the  way. ' ' 
Not  content  with  visiting  the  "  drinking- houses,"  we  read,  "  it 
was  his  practice  to  visit  either  the  magistrates  or  the  bishops 
and  priests,  and  sometimes  he  did  not  feel  clear  until  he  had 
spoken  faithfully  to  all."  *  To  the  bishops,  Roman  Catholic  or 
Protestant,  he  spoke  in  the  most  uncompromising  manner  about 
their  responsibility  for  the  influence  of  their  teaching  and 
conduct  upon  the  people.  Six  hundred  visits  of  mercy  were 
paid  to  the  drinking. houses  of  Dublin  alone  in  the  year  1811. 
The  year  after  this  his  "  Journal"  records  a  remarkable  visit 
which  he  and  a  fellow- worker  paid  to  "  an  organized  company 
of  desperate  characters,  who  for  nearly  fifty  years  had  infested. 
the  neighborhood  of  Kingswood,  who  lived  by  plundering, 
robbing,  horse-stealing,"  and  were  a  terror  to  the  locality. 
Even  these  men  listened  patiently  to  correction  and  instruction 
from  the  lips  of  Thomas  Shillitoe,  and  thanked  him  and  his 
friend  for  their  good  counsel. 

From  the  lowest  and  humblest  members  of  society  he  some- 
times turned  his  attention  to  the  highest  and  most  influential. 
He  could  not  think  of  kings  and  emperors  without  remembering 
their  grave  responsibility  before  God  for  the  good  government 
of  their  people,  and  feeling  that  it  was  his  duty  to  speak  to 
them  upon  the  subject.  In  1794  he  and  a  friend  named  Stacey 
went  to  Windsor  intent  on  seeing  and  speaking  with  King 
George  III.  It  was  early  morning,  when  the  King  was  in  the 
habit  of  visiting  his  stables.  Shillitoe  was  about  to  follow  the 
King  into  one  of  the  stables,  when  he  was  stopped  by  an 
attendant.  George  III.,  hearing  their  remarks,  came  out  ; 
when  Stacey  said,  "  This  friend  of  mine  has  something  to 
communicate  to  the  King."  On  which  his  Majestv  raised  his 
hat,  and  his  attendants  ranging  on  his  left  and  right,  Thomas 
Shillitoe  advanced  in  front,  saying,  "  Hear,  O  King,"  and,  in 
a  discourse  of  about  twenty  minutes'  duration,  pressed  upon 
the  monarch  the  importance  of  true  religion  in  persons  of 
exalted  station,  and  the  influence  and  responsibility  attached 
to  power.  The  King  listened  with  respect  and  emotion, 
"  tears  trickling  down  his  cheeks."  f  It  was  certainly  a  more 
difficult  thing  to  pay  such  a  visit  to  the  Prince  Regent  ;  but 

*"  Select  Miscellanies."  London:  Charles  Gilpin,  1854,  vol.  iv. 
p.  135. 

f  "Journal  of  Thomas  Shillitoe,"  vol.  i.  p.  21. 


JOHN   THORP.  255 

even  this  the  prophet-like  Quaker  accomplished  at  Brighton  in 
1813,  and  again  at  Windsor  in  1823,  when  the  gay  Prince  had 
become  King  George  IV.  The  missionary  zeal  of  Shillitoe 
carried  him  into  Europe  and  America,  where  he  never  flinched 
from  delivering  his  message  to  men  in  any  position,  high  or 
low. 

In  Denmark  he  obtained  an  audience  of  the  King,  and  spoke 
to  him  some  plain  words  regarding  the  desecration  of  the 
Sabbath,  and  the  evils  attendant  on  Government-licensed  lot- 
teries. In  Prussia  he  ventured  to  speak  to  the  King  in  the 
garden  of  the  Palace  of  Berlin,  and  was  graciously  received, 
the  monarch  promising  to  profit  by  the  admonition  he  received. 
In  Russia  he  saw  the  Czar  Alexander  in  1825,  and  spoke  to 
hwn  "  of  the  abuses  and  oppressions  that  existed  under  his 
government."  Alexander,  who  had  great  respect  for  the 
Friends,  received  his  visitor  very  kindly,  and  conversed  with 
him  for  a  long  time  on  religious  subjects  in  the  most  frank 
and  familiar  manner. 

After  fifty  years'  faithful  ministry,  of  the  most  singularly 
pure  and  disinterested  character,  this  good  man  died  at  the  age 
of  eighty-two,  12th  June,  1836. 


JOHN  THORP,  FOUNDER  OF    THE  INDEPENDENT    CHURCH 
AT  MASBRO'. 

The  conversion  and  ministry  of  John  Thorp,  a  shoemaker 
at  Masbrough,  Yorkshire,  may  be  set  down  among  the  most 
extraordinary  incidents  connected  with  the  eighteenth  century 
religious  revival.  Thorp's  conversion  was  an  indirect  result 
of  the  preaching  of  the  Methodists,  and  occurred  in  such  a 
singular  manner  as  to  make  the  story  worth  telling,  even  if  it  had 
led  to  no  other  results  ;  but  in  Thorp's  case  the  results  of 
conversion  were  very  noteworthy.  Southey  in  his  "  Life  of 
Wesley"  *  gives  the  following  account  :  "  A  party  of  men 
were  amusing  themselves  one  day  in  an  ale-house  at  Rotherham,f 
by  mimicking  the  Methodists.  It  was  disputed  who  succeeded 
best,  and  this  led  to  a  wager.  There  were  four  performers, 
and  the  rest  of  the  company  were  to  decide  after  a  fair  speci- 
men from  each.  A  Bible  was  produced,  and  three  of  the 

*  "  Bohn's  Standard  Library,"  p.  305. 

f  Rotherham  and  Masbro'  are  one  town,  only  separated  by  the 
River  Rother. 


256  ILLUSTRIOUS    SHOEMAKERS. 

rivals,  each  in  tarn,  mounted  the  table  and  held  forth  in  a 
style  of  irreverent  buffoonery,  wherein  the  Scriptures  were  not 
spared.  John  Thorp,  who  was  the  last  exhibitor,  got  upon 
the  table  in  high  spirits,  exclaiming,  4  I  shall  beat  you  all  !  ' 
He  opened  the  book  for  a  text,  and  his  eyes  rested  on  tl 
words,  '  Except  ye  repent,  ye  shall  all  likewise  perish  !  '  Th<-M- 
words  at  such  a  moment  and  in  such  a  place  struck  him  to  the 
heart.  He  became  serious,  he  preached  in  earnest,  and  he 
afterward  affirmed  that  his  own  hair  stood  erect  at  the  feelings 
which  then  came  upon  him,  and  the  awful  denunciations  which 
he  uttered.  His  companions  heard  him  with  the  deepest  silence. 
When  he  came  down  not  a  word  was  said  concerning  the  wager  ; 
he  left  the  room  immediately  without  speaking  to  anyone, 
went  home  in  a  state  of  great  agitation,  and  resigned  himseJf 
to  the  impulse  which  had  thus  strangely  been  produced.  In  con- 
sequence he  joined  the  Methodists,  and  became  an  itinerant 
preacher  ;  but  he  would  often  say,  when  he  related  this  story, 
that  if  ever  he  preached  by  the  assistance  of  the  Spirit  of  God, 
it  was  at  that  time."  In  the  theological  controversies  which 
sprang  up  in  the  society  at  Rotherham,  Thorp  took  the 
Calvinistic  side.  This  roused  the  ire  of  the  Anninian  AYeslcv, 
who  sent  off  the  Calvinistic  cobbler  to  labor  in  a  circuit  a 
hundred  miles  away.  But  though  Wesley  had  the  power  to 
drive  Thorp  from  Rotherham,  the  autocrat  had  no  power  to 
drive  the  cobbler  away  from  his  Calvinism.  Wesley  then  (\\<- 
missed  Thorp  from  the  Connection,  and  he  returned  to  the 
scenes  of  his  conversion  and  first  Christian  work,  to  take  charge 
of  a  body  of  people  who  left  the  Methodists  and  formed  an 
Independent  Church,  1757-60.*  This  little  society  rapidly 
grew  in  numbers  and  influence,  and  is  at  the  present  time  a 
large  and  flourishing  church  at  Masbro'.  One  of  its  tirst 
members,  Mr.  Walker,  an  iron-founder,  was  a  leading  patron  of 
the  school,  which  afterward  developed  into  Rotherhani  Colh-u'e 
under  the  presidency  of  the  learned  Dr.  E.  Williams,  j-  "  Tim* 
to  the  pious  zeal  of  an  obscure  shoemaker  the  Dissenters  are 
indirectly  indebted  for  their  valuable  academical  institution.'' 

*  "  Masbro'    Chapel  Manual"  for  1881,  whence  many  of  these  i 
ticulars  are  taken.     See  also  Miall's    * '  Congregationalism  in  York- 
shire.*' 

I  Dr.  Edward  Williams  became  president  in  1795.  He  edited  the 
Works  of  Jonathan  Edwards,  and  was  the  author  of  a  once  famous  con- 
troversial treatise  on  "Divine  Equity  and  Sovereignty." 

J  "  Crispin  Anecdotes,"  p.  18. 


WILLIAM    HUXTIXGDOX,    S.6.  ^57 

Thorp  was  regularly  ordained  to  the  pastorate,  and  a  chapel 
was  built  for  his  ministry,  where  he  preached  till  his  death,  at 
the  age  of  fifty-two,  8lh  November,  1V76.  He  was  a  friend 
of  the  pious  and  eccentric  John  Berridge,*  Vicar  of  Everton, 
who  gave  his  watch  to  Thorp  as  a  token  of  esteem.  John 
Thorp's  son,  William,  was  a  far  more  famous  preacher  than 
his  father,  and  held  a  conspicuous  place  at  the  beginning  of 
this  century  as  pastor  of  the  Castle  Green  Church,  Bristol. 
Representatives  of  the  family  belonging  to  a  third  and  fourth 
generation  of  preachers  still  hold  an  honorable  position  as 
Established  or  Free  Church  ministers. 


WILLIAM  HUNTINGDON,  S.S.,  CALVINISTIC  METHODIST 
PREACHEK. 

One  of  the  most  eloquent  and  famous  preachers  in  London 
at  the  close  of  the  last  century  and  the  beginning  of  the 
present,  when  eloquent  and  famous  preachers  were  by  no  means 
rare,  was  William  Huntingdon,  whose  portrait  may  be  sepn  in 
the  National  Portrait  Gallery,  South  Kensington,  London. 
Huntingdon's  father  was  a  farm  laborer  in  Kent  named  Hunt. 
How  the  name  Hunt  grew  into  the  more  dignified  Huntingdon 
(or  Huntington)  we  cannot  tell  ;  probably  through  some  whim 
of  his  own,  for  this  eccentric  man  took  liberties  with  his  name, 
as  the  reader  will  see  presently.  He  seems  to  have  combined 
shoemaking  with  his  other  avocations,  for  one  notice  speaks  of 
him  as  by  turns  hostler,  gardener,  cobbler,  and  coal-heaver,  f 

Lie  was  not  favored  with  any  early  education,  but  by  careful 
self -culture  of  his  first-rate  natural  gifts  acquired  the  rare  art  of 
speaking  with  an  ease  and  elegance  and  force  that  pleased  all 
sorts  of  hearers.  Long  after  he  had  begun  to  attract  crowds 
by  his  eloquence  he  worked  for  his  daily  bread  as  a  cobbler. 
Many  a  sermon  was  made  with  his  work  on  his  lap  and  a 
Bible  on  the  chair  beside  him.  A  chapel  was  built  for  his. 
ministry  in  Tichfield  Street,  London,  and  when  it  proved  too 
small,  the  congregation  moved  to  a  larger  building  erected  in 
Gray's  Inn  Road. 

In  his  diary,  22d  October,    1812,   H.  C.    Robinson  J  says, 

*"  Crispin  Anecdotes,"  p.  18. 

f"  Imperial     Dictionary    of    Biography,"     vol.    iv.     Edinburgh: 
Blackie  &  Son. 
\  Vol.  i.  p.  402. 


258  ILLUSTRIOUS    SHOEMAKERS. 

"  Heard  W.  Huntingdon  preach,  the  man  who  puts  S.  S. 
(sinner  saved)  after  his  name.  He  has  an  admirable  exterior  ; 
his  voice  is  clear  and  melodious  ;  his  manner  singularly  easy, 
and  even  graceful.  There  was  no  violence,  no  bluster  ;  yet 
there  was  no  want  of  earnestness  or  strength.  His  language 
was  very  figurative,  the  images  being  taken  from  the  ordinary 
business  of  life,  and  especially  from  the  army  and  navy.  He  is 
very  colloquial,  and  has  a  wonderful  Biblical  memory  ;  indeed, 
he  is  said  to  know  the  whole  Bible  by  heart.  I  noticed  that 
though  he  was  frequent  in  his  citations,  and  always  added  chap- 
ter and  verse,  he  never  opened  the  little  book  he  had  in  his  lumd. 
He  is  said  to  resemble  Robert  Robinson  of  Cambridge."  * 

In  regard  to  the  S.S.  which  he  persisted  in  writing  after  his 
name,  Huntingdon  says,  "  M.A.  is  out  of  my  reach  for  want 
of  learning  ;  D.D.  I  cannot  attain  for  want  of  cash  ;  but  S.S. 
I  adopt,  by  which  I  mean  '  sinner  saved.'  '  He  married  as 
his  second  wife  the  wealthy  widow  of  Alderman  Sir  J.  Saunder- 
son,  once  Lord  Mayor  of  London.  His  death  occurred  in 
1813,  at'Tunbridge  Wells. f  One  of  his  best  known  works  is 
entitled  *'  The  Bank  of  Faith,"  an  extraordinary  record  of 
his  own  personal  experience  in  illustration  of  the  doctrine  of 
special  providence.  His  sermons,  etc.,  were  published  in  no 
less  than  twenty  volumes. 


KEV.  EGBERT  MORRISON,  D.D. ,  CHINESE  SCHOLAR  AND 
MISSIONARY. 

A  maker  of  wooden  clogs  and  shoe-lasts  is  hardly  a  shoe- 
maker, in  the  commonly  understood  sense  of  the  term,  yet  he 
stands  in  a  very  close  relation  to  the  gentle  craft,  and  for  this 
reason  we  may  not  unfairly  claim  Robert  Morrison  of  Newcastle 
as  a  member  of  the  illustrious  brotherhood  of  the  sons  of  St. 
Crispin.  Dr.  Morrison  was  the  pioneer  of  modern  missions  to 
China,  and  did  for  the  people  and  language  of  that  country 
what  another  shoemaker  did  for  the  people  of  Bengal.  The 
youthful  Northumbrian  had  only  a  plain  elementary  education, 

*  The  eminent  Baptist  minister  of  St.  Andrew's  Chapel,  1761-1790, 
predecessor  of  Robert  Hall. 

f  Huntingdon  wrote  his  own  epitaph,  part  of  which  reads— "Be- 
loved of  his  God  but  abhorred  by  men.  The  Omniscient  Judge  at  the 
Great  Assize  shall  ratify  and  confirm  this,  to  the  confusion  of  many 
thousands  ;  for  England  and  its  metropolis  shall  know  that  there  hath 
been  a  prophet  among  them." 


REV.    JOHN   BURtfET.  259 

and  after  he  became  an  apprentice,  spent  all  his  spare  time  in 
reading  religious  books.  At  the  age  of  nineteen  he  gave  up 
his  humble  trade  and  began  to  study  under  a  minister,  who 
passed  him  on  in  two  years  to  the  academy  at  Hoxton,  where 
he  made  such  progress,  that  in  a  short  time  he  was  sent  to 
London  to  study  Chinese  under  Sam  Tok,  a  native  teacher, 
with  a  view  to  his  becoming  a  missionary  to  China,  in  connec- 
tion with  the  London  Missionary  Society.  In  1807,  he  sailed 
for  that  country,  and  his  rare  gifts  as  a  linguist  were  shown  in 
the  publication  of  a  Chinese  version  of  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles, 
after  only  three  years'  labor,  in  1810.  The  Gospel  of  Luke 
appeared  in  1812,  and  the  entire  New  Testament  in  1814. 
With  the  help  of  William  Milne  he  issued  the  Old  Testament 
shortly  after  the  last  date.  His  labors  wrere  not  confined  to 
the  translation  of  the  Sacred  Scriptures.  His  greatest  work 
was  a  *'  Dictionary  of  the  Chinese  Language,"  published  in 
1818  by  the  Hon.  East  India  Company  at  a  cost  of  £15,000. 
He  also  edited  a  Chinese  grammar.  The  degree  of  Doctor  of 
Divinity  was  conferred  on  him  by  the  University  of  Glasgow. 

In  1817,  Dr.  Morrison  accompanied  Lord  Amherstin  his  em- 
bassy to  Pekin,  and  afterward,  as  the  last  great  work  of  a 
noble  life,  founded  an  Anglo-Chinese  College  at  Malacca,  to 
whose  funds  he  left  the  bulk  of  his  property.  On  his  return 
to  England  in  1823  for  rest  and  change,  his  great  gifts  and 
labors  as  a  linguist  and  a  missionary  were  cordially  recognized 
in  many  quarters.  The  Royal  Society  made  him  a  member,  and 
King  George  IV.  honored  himself,  as  well  as  his  distinguished 
subject,  by  seeking  an  interview  with  him.  In  1826  he  re- 
turned to  the  field  of  his  missionary  labors.  On  his  death  at 
Canton  in  1834,  England  lost  her  best  Chinese  scholar,  and  one 
of  the  most  devoted,  self-sacrificing,  and  useful  missionaries 
who  ever  left  her  shores. 


THE    KEV.   JOHN    BURNET.   PREACHER    AND 
PHILANTHROPIST. 

The  eloquent  and  popular  minister  of  Camberwell  Green 
Congregational  Church,  the  Rev.  John  Burnet,  who  divided  his 
time  and  energies  between  preaching  and  philanthropic  labors, 
is  claimed  by  the  craft  as  one  of  the  most  gifted  and  useful 
men  who  have  sprung  from  their  ranks.*  He  was  of  Highland 

*  See  Campion's  "  Delightful  History,"  p.  83. 


ILLUSTRIOUS    SHOK.MAKJ-:i:< 

descent,  and  was  born  in  Perth,  13th  April,  1789.  Hiscaily 
education  at  the  High  School  of  Perth  must  have  given  him 
great  advantage  over  most  youths  of  the  tsouter  fraternity. 
How  long  he  plied  the  awl  we  cannot  say.  Soon  after  his 
union  with  a  Christian  Church  in  IVrth  his  friends  discovered 
his  gifts  as  a  speaker,  and  encouraged  his  adoption  of  the 
ministry  as  a  profession.  To  this  end  they  supplied  him  with 
funds,  and  for  a  time  he  studied  with  much  advantage  under 
the  Rev.  William  Orme  of  Perth.  In  1815  Mr.  Burnet  re- 
moved from  Perth  to  Dublin,  and  soon  afterward  became  an 
agent  of  the  Irish  Evangelical  Society.  Hi*  labors  at  Cork 
proving  acceptable  to  the  Independent  Church  there,  he  was 
invited  to  become  their  pastor,  and  for  fifteen  years  was  well 
known  by  all  the  Protestants  of  the  district  as  an  eloquent  and 
faithful  preacher.  The  growth  of  his  congregation  h-d  to  the 
building  of  a  handsome  new  chapel  for  his  ministry  in  (It-- 
Street. But  his  labors  were  not  confined  to  these  localities 
(Cork  and  Mallow).  His  biographer  states  that  "he  COB* 
tinually  visited  the  other  towns  and  places  in  the  South  of 
Ireland,  preaching  in  the  court-houses,  market-places,  and 
frequently  in  the  halls  of  the  resident  nobility  and  gentry — all 
the  Protestants  gladly  giving  him  the  requisite  facilities.  On 
these  journeys  he  bad  usually  a  free  pass  by  the  mails  and 
coaches,  but  he  travelled  a  good  deal  on  horseback.99* 

It  would  have  been  an  easy  matter  for  Mr.  Burnet  to  enter 
Parliament,  if  he  could  have  been  persuaded  to  quit  the  min- 
istry and  devote  himself  entirely  to  political  life  ;  for  he  was 
popular  with  the  Liberals  of  his  dav,  had  rare  gifts  as  a 
speaker,  and  was  thoroughly  acquainted  with  politics.  But  the 
best  efforts  of  his  friend  Joseph  Sturgc,  and  the  offer  of  ample 
means  to  maintain  the  position  of  a  member  of  Parliament, 
failed  to  induce  him  to  accept  the  flattering  offer.  lie  was 
constantly  employed  as  a  platform  speaker,  and  never  refused 
his  aid  to  any  cause  "  affecting  the  rights  of  the  people  or  the 
progress  of  humanity." 

For  many  years  he  was  on  the  Committee  of  the  Bible 
Society,  the  London  Missionary  Society,  the  Irish  Evangelical 
and  the  British  and  Foreign  Sailors'  Societies.  Yet  with  all 
this  public  work  he  never  neglected  the  duties  of  the  pastorate, 
but  occupied  his  pulpit  efficiently  from  Sunday  to  Sunday,  and 

*  "Congregational  .Year-Book"  for  1863,  pp.  214-216.  To  the 
obituary  notice  given  in  the  Year-Book  I  owe  the  facts  given  in  this 
sketch. 


T)f;.     KITTO.  261 

lield  several  meetings  during  the  week  for  the  instruction  of 
his  people.  In  1845  his  brethren  of  the  Independent  Con- 
nection showed  their  esteem  by  electing  him  to  fill  the  chair  of 
the  Congregational  Union. 

In  1825  Mr.  Burnet  was  summoned  to  give  evidence  before1 
a  committee  of  the  House  of  Lords  on  the  state  of  the  Catholic 
population  in  Ireland.  At  first  he  declined  to  attend,  saying 
that  he  could  not  leave  his  work,  for  he  had  no  one  to  supply 
his  place  in  his  absence.  But  a  second  summons  made  it  clear 
that  he  was  bound  to  obey  orders,  and  he  accordingly  went  up 
to  London  and  gave  the  committee  the  benefit  of  his  extensive 
acquaintance  with  the  religious  condition  of  the  South  of  Ire- 
land. His  visit  to  London  brought  him  again  into  the  com- 
pany of  his  old  friend  Mr.  Orme,  who  introduced  him  to  the 
congregation,  of  which  Mr.  Orme  was  the  pastor,  at  the  Man- 
sion House  Chapel.  On  his  death  in  1830,  Mr.  Burnet  was 
invited  to  succeed  his  friend  as  the  pastor  of  the  church.  This 
pastorate  he  held  for  thirty-two  years,  till  the  day  of  his  death. 
In  1852  the  new  and  costly  building  opposite  Camberwell 
Green  was  built,  the  congregation  removing  thither  from  the 
old  "  Mansion  House.'7 

Mr.  Burnet  was  best  known  for  his  philanthropic  labors, 
chiefly  in  connection  with  the  anti-slavery  cause.  In  this 
work  he  labored  side  by  side,  and  on  intimate  terms  of  friend- 
ship, with  Wilberforce,  Brougham,  Zachary  Macaulay,  Lord 
Macaulay,  Sir  T.  F.  Buxton,  and  other  advocates  of  freedom 
for  the  slave.  "  His  labors,'''  it  is  said,  "  in  committee  were 
continuous  and  valuable,  and  his  good  sense  and  sound  judg- 
ment were  not  seldom  needed  in  the  conduct  of  this  great 
movement.  He  went  frequently  on  deputations  to  the  Govern- 
ment, and  was  obliged  to  spend  much  time  at  the  House  of 
Commons  to  be  near  the  anti-slavery  leaders  in  all  times  of 
difficulty,  and  by  this  means  became  acquainted  with  the  lead- 
ing  public  men  of  the  day,  who  admired  his  straightforward 
character,  readiness,  and  humor."  He  died  at  the  age  of 
seventy -three,  June  10th,  1862. 


JOHN  KITTO,  D.D.,THE  BIBLICAL  SCHOLAR. 

Very  few  illustrious  men  have  been  so  heavily  handicapped 
in  the  race  of  life  and  the  pursuit  of  knowledge  as  the  eminent 
Biblical  scholar,  John  Kitto,  who  was  born  at  Plymouth,  4th 


JLLrsTlilOl'3    -XHOKMAKI'HS. 

December,  1804.*  Added  to  poverty,  the  want  of  proper 
food  and  clothing,  he  had  to  endure  in  early  life  the  depriva- 
tion of  natural  guardians  and  friends,  terrible  cruelty  from  a 
master  under  whose  care  he  was  placed,  and,  worst  of  all,  the 
entire  loss  of  the  sense  of  hearing,  so  that  from  the  age  of 
twelve  to  the  day  of  his  death  he  never  could  hear  a  sound  of 
any  description.  Deeply  pathetic  is  the  story  of  his  early  life 
as  told  by  himself  in  his  journal  and  letters.  His  father  was  a 
working  mason  at  Plymouth,  who  had  lost  a  good  business  by 
intemperate  habits.  When  John  was  only  four  years  old,  his 
grandmother,  who  could  not  endure  the  sight  of  his  misery  at 
home,  engaged  to  bring  him  up.  This  good  woman  was  the 
guardian  angel  of  Kitto's  childhood,  and  did  more,  perhaps, 
than  any  one  else  to  mould  his  character.  It  was  a  sad  day 
for  him  when  she  was  compelled  by  poverty  and  illness  to  break 
up  her  home  and  go  with  her  little  ward  to  live  with  his 
parents.  He  had  already  become  fond  of  reading,  and  had 
even  tried  his  hand  at  writing  tales  for  the  amusement  of  his 
childish  companions  and  the  more  serious  purpose  of  earning  a 
few  pence  to  buy  books.  One  day,  when  working  with  his 
father,  he  fell  from  the  top  of  a  house  thirty-five  feet  high, 
and  was  carried  home  in  a  state  of  unconsciousness.  After 
lying  in  this  state  for  a  fortnight,  he  awoke  to  discover  to 
his  dismay  that  he  was  absolutely  deaf.  He  had  asked  for 
a  book  which  a  neighbor  had  lent  him  just  before  the  accident, 
and  when  his  friends  found  that  he  could  not  hear  their  reply, 
one  of  them  took  up  a  slate  and  wrote  upon  it.  "  Why  do 
you  not  speak  ?"  he  cried.  "  Why  do  you  write  to  me  ? 
Why  not  speak?  Speak,  speak!"  "  Then,"  he  tells  us, 
"  those  who  stood  around  the  bed  exchanged  significant  looks 
of  concern,  and  the  writer  soon  displayed  upon  his  slate  the 
awful  words,  i  You  ARE  DEAF  ! '  Did  not  this  utterly  crush 
me  ?  By  no  means.  In  my  then  weakened  condition  nothing 
like  this  could  affect  me.  Besides,  I  was  a  child  ;  and  to  a  child 
the  full  extent  of  such  a  calamity  could  not  be  at  once  appar- 
ent. However,  I  knew  not  the  future — it  was  well  I  did  not  ; 
and  there  was  nothing  to  show  me  that  I  suffered  under  more 
than  a  temporary  deafness,  which  in  a  few  days  might  pass 
away.  It  was  left  for  time  to  show  me  the  sad  realities  of  the 
condition  to  which  I  was  reduced." 

*  "Memoirs  of  John  Kitto,  D.D.,"  by  R.  E.   Ryland,  M.A.     Edin- 
burgh :  William  Oliphant  &  Sons,  1856. 


I)  K.    KITTO.  263 

At  the  age  of  fifteen  he  was  sent  to  the  workhouse,  scarcely 
understanding  what  was  being  done  with  him.  On  realizing 
his  true  position  in  this  place,  "  his  anguish  was  indescrib- 
able." Yet  in  Kitto's  time  this  place  was  hardly  like  an 
ordinary  modern  workhouse.  It  had  long  borne  the  name  of 
The  Hospital  of  the  Poor's  Portion,  was  founded  in  1630  by 
Gayer,  Colmer,  and  Fowell,  and  endowed  in  1674  by  Lanyon 
with  £2000,  and  in  1708  was  converted  into  a  poorhouse  by  Act 
of  Parliament.  It  had  apartments  for  boys,  who  were  admit- 
ted on  Hele's  and  Lanyon's  charities.  Young  Kitto  was  kindly 
treated  by  the  guardians,  jeven  being  allowed  to  go  out  every 
day,  and  for  a  longtime  to  sleep  at  home.  His  occupation  was 
the  making  of  list  shoes,  in  which  he  became  so  proficient  that 
he  was  sent  out  as  an  apprentice  to  a  shoemaker  in  the  town, 
who  treated  him  so  savagely  that  the  humane  guardians  quashed 
the  agreement  and  took  him  again  under  their  care.  But  even 
in  this  wretched  situation,  where  he  was  often  compelled  to 
work  sixteen  or  eighteen  hours  a  day,  the  poor  deaf  boy 
managed  to  go  on  with  his  studies  ;  and  in  his  interesting  work 
called  ic  The  Lost  Senses, "  published  twenty  years  afterward, 
he  remarks,  "  Now  that  I  look  back  upon  this  time,  the  amount 
of  study  which  I  did,  under  these  circumstances,  contrive  to 
get  through,  amazes  and  confounds  me." 

About  a  year  after  his  return  to  the  poorhouse,  certain 
gentlemen  in  Plymouth,  who  had  come  to  hear  of  his  superior 
abilities  and  passion  for  reading,  drew  up  a  circular  asking  for 
funds  to  enable  him  to  devote  his  time  entirely  to  study.  This 
appeal  was  so  successful  that  the  poor  workhouse  boy  was 
placed  under  the  care  of  a  good  friend,  named  Mr.  Barnard,  to 
board  and  lodge,  and  allowed  to  go  to  the  public  library  for 
the  purpose  of  reading  and  study.  His  course  as  a  student 
was  now  fairly  open.  In  a  few  years  he  published  his 
first  book,  "  Essays  and  Letters,"  with  a  short  memoir  of 
the  author.  In  1825  his  friend  Mr.  Groves  of  Exeter  was  the 
means  of  sending  him  to  the  Church  Missionary  Institution, 
London,  where  for  a  time  he  was  employed  as  a  printer.  For 
two  years  he  resided  at  Malta  in  the  service  of  this  Society. 
After  this,  an  arrangement  was  made  with  his  friend  Mr. 
Groves  which  proved  of  the  utmost  possible  service  to  the  dili- 
gent student,  whose  mind  had  long  been  set  on  travelling  as  a 
means  of  increasing  his  knowledge.  Mr.  Groves  asked  Kitto 
to  accompany  him  to  the  East.  Five  years  were  spent  in  a 
journey  through  Russia,  Persia,  and  Asiatic  Turkey,  during 


264  ILLUSTRIOUS   SHOEMAKERS. 

which  "  th  ieaf  traveller"  obtained  the  vast  stores  of  informa- 
tion of  which  he  made  such  good  use  in  the  various  works 
written  on  h:  "eturn  to  England.  In  1833  he  was  engaged  by 
Mr.  Charles  1  light,  the  well-known  publisher,  to  write  for  the 
Penny  Magazine,  and  wrote  for  that  journal  a  number  of 
articles  entitled  "  The  Deaf  Traveller.''  He  contributed  many 
articles  also  to  the  Penny  Cyclopaedia.  His  best  known  works 
are  "  The  Pictorial  Bible,"  "  The  Pictorial  Sunday  Book," 
44  Cyclopaedia  of  Biblical  Literature,"  "The  Lost  Senses," 
"  Journal  of  Sacred  Literature,"  and  *4  Daily  Bible  Illustra- 
tions," a  work  of  great  value,  in  eight  volumes.  In  1844  the 
University  of  Giessen  conferred  on  him  the  diploma  of  D.D., 
and  in  the  following  year  he  was  elected  a  Fellow  of  the  Society 
of  Antiquaries.  Notwithstanding  hi*  immense  labors  and  the 
great  value  of  his  writings,  he  was,  toward  the  close  of  his  life, 
considerably  embarrassed  by  pecuniary  difficulties,  which  were 
alleviated,  but  not  entirely  removed,  by  a  Government  pension 
of  £100  per  year.  John  Kitto  died  and  was  buried  at  Cann- 
statt,  in  Germany,  25th  November,  1854,  at  the  age  of  forty- 
nine. 


SCIENCE. 


WILLIAM  STURGEON,  THE  ELECTRICIAN. 

The  name  of  William  Sturgeon,  so  honorably  connected 
with  the  science  of  electricity  and  magnetism,  has  a  fair  claim 
to  be  entered  on  this  list.  Sturgeon  was  a  Lancashire  man, 
born  at  Wittington  in  that  county  in  1783.  All  his  youth  was 
spent  at  the  shoemaker's  stall.  On  arriving  at  manhood  he 
abandoned  this  quiet,  peaceful  occupation  for  the  life  of  a 
soldier.  After  two  years'  service  in  the  militia  he  enlisted  in 
the  Royal  Artillery.  Like  William  Cobbett,  he  found  it  pos- 
sible to  read  in  the  midst  of  the  distractions  of  the  barrack- 
room.  His  chief  attention  was  given  to  the  study  of  electricity 
and  magnetism,  which  at  that  time  were  attracting  a  great  deal 
of  attention  on  the  part  of  men  of  science.*  The  first  proof 
Sturgeon  gave  of  special  and  extensive  knowledge  on  the  sub- 
ject was  in  the  papers  which  he  contributed  to  the  Philosophi- 
cal Magazine  in  1823-24.  In  1825  he  published  an  account 

*  Magneto-electricity  was  discovered  by  Oersted  in  1820. 


THOMAS   HARDY.  265 

of  certain  magneto -electric  appliances,  for  which  t]  -v  Society 
of  Arts  awarded  him  their  silver  medal  and  a  purse  containing 
£30.  About  this  time,  that  is,  soon  after  leavin^  the  army, 
he  was  appointed  to  the  chair  of  experimental  pulosophy  in 
the  East  India  Company's  Military  Academy  at  Addiscombe. 
His  pamphlet,  published  in  1830,  on  "  Experimental  Researches 
in  Electro-Magnetism  and  Galvanism, "  described  his  own  ex- 
periments, which  issued  in  an  improved  method  of  preparing 
plates  for  the  galvanic  battery  ;  a  method  still  found,  in  many 
respects,  to  be  the  best.  He  invented  the  electro-magnetic- 
coil  machine,  now  used  very  frequently  by  medical  men  in 
giving  a  succession  of  shocks  to  the  patient,  and  still  preferred 
by  the  faculty  to  other  instruments  for  this  purpose.  This 
industrious  and  original  investigator  was  also  the  inventor  of  a 
method  of  driving  machinery  by  electro-magnetism  ;  but  he 
little  dreamt,  it  may  be,  of  the  extent  to  which  electricity 
would  be  employed  in  these  days  as  a  motive  power  and  for 
lighting  purposes.  He  edited  the  "  Annals  of  Electricity, 
Magnetism,  and  Chemistry,"  and  published  his  own  works  in 
one  volume  a  few  years  before  his  death.  Like  many  inventors, 
he  never  made  a  fortune,  but  died  poor.  A  Government 
pension  of  £50  per  annum  came  to  relieve  him  of  his  cares  only 
the  year  before  his  death,  which  occurred  in  1850. 


POLITICIANS. 

THOMAS  HAKDY,  OF  "THE  STATE  TRIALS." 

The  "gentle  craft"  has  been  as  prolific  of  fiery  politicians  as 
of  peaceful  poets.  We  have  to  speak  now  of  two  men  who 
were  connected  respectively  with  the  political  agitations  of  the 
eighteenth  and  nineteenth  centuries. 

In  the  year  1794,  when  the  events  of  the  French  Revolution 
had  convulsed  the  whole  of  Europe,  society  in  England  was 
stirred  to  its  depths,  and  grave  fears  were  entertained  by  the 
King  and  his  Parliament  lest  the  spirit  of  revolution  should 
break  loose  in  this  country.  Such  fears  were  not  altogether 
unfounded.  Societies  sprang  up  whose  object  was  reform,  by 
legitimate  means  if  possible,  but  if  not,  by  violence  and  blood- 
shed. One  of  the  strongest  of  these  societies  existed  in 
London,  and  had  carried  its  proceedings  to  such  a  pitch  that 


266  ILLUSTRIOUS   SHOEMAKERS. 

four  of  its  leading  members  were  brought  to  trial  on  a  charge 
of  treason  and  sedition.  It  is  a  remarkable  fact  that  of  these 
four  men — Hardy,  Horne-Tooke,  Thelwall,  and  Holcroft — the 
first  and  last  belonged  to  the  class  of  shoemakers.* 

Thomas  Hardy  was  the  secretary  of  the  Association,  and  had 
to  bear  the  brunt  of  the  trial,  in  which  he  was  defended  by 
the  Honorable  Thomas  Erskine.  Speaking  of  these  famous 
state  trials,  Henry  Crabb  Robinson,  who  was  then  living  at 
Colchester,  says,  4  4 1  felt  an  intense  interest  in  them.  During 
the  first  trial  I  was  in  a  state  of  agitation  that  rendered  me 
unfit  for  business.  I  used  to  beset  the  post-office  early,  and  one 
morning  at  six  I  obtained  the  London  paper  with  NOT  GUILTY 
printed  in  letters  an  inch  in  height,  recording  the  issue  of 
Hardy's  trial.  I  ran  about  the  town  knocking  at  people's  doors 
and  screaming  out  the  joyful  words.  Thomas  Hardy,  who  was 
a  shoemaker,  made  a  sort  of  circuit,  and  obtained,  of  course, 
many  an  order  in  the  way  of  his  trade.  .  .  .  Hardy  was  a 
good-hearted,  simple,  and  honest  man.  He  had  neither  the 
talents  nor  the  vices  which  might  be  supposed  to  belong  to  an 
acquitted  traitor.  He  lived  to  an  advanced  age  and  died 
universally  respected."  f  Hardy  died  in  the  year  1831,  in  his 
eighty-second  year,  having  been  born  in  1751.  At  the  close 
of  his  life  he  was  connected  with  the  Wesleyan  Methodists. 
His  monument  may  still  be  seen  in  the  Bunhill  Fields  Burying 
Ground,  opposite  the  City  Road  Chapel,  London. 


GEORGE  ODGER,  POLITICAL  ORATOR. 

It  has  been  remarked  above,  that  shoemakers,  whether 
"  illustrious"  or  not,  have  played  a  prominent  part  in  connec- 

*  A  story  is  told  of  Sir  Robert  Peel  which  is  worth  repeating  here. 
A  deputation  of  working-men  once  waited  on  Sir  Robert  to  lay  the 
wants  of  the  trades'  societies  before  him.  The  two  speakers  selected 
by  the  deputation  were  shoemakers.  On  learning  this  interesting 
fact,  the  statesman  turned  to  the  sons  of  Crispin  and  said,  half  in 
earnest  and  half  in  jest,  "How  is  it  that  you  shoemakers  are  fore- 
most in  every  movement  ?  If  there  is  a  plot  or  conspiracy  or  insur- 
rection or  political  movement,  I  always  find  that  there  is  a  shoemaker 
in  the  fray  !" 

It  is  a  singular  fact  that  the  shorthand  notes  of  Hardy's  trial  were 
taken  down  by  another  illustrious  shoemaker — Manoah  Sibly  (see 
above).  There  is  a  printed  copy  of  these  notes  in  the  British 
Museum,  published  1795. 

f  H.  C.  Robinson's  Diary,  vol.  i.  pp.  26,  27. 


GEORGE   ODGEK.  267 

tion  with  religious  and  political  reform.  In  proof  of  this  we 
have  only  to  ask  the  reader  to  recall  what  has  been  said  of 
Henry  Michael  Buch,  Hans  Sachs,  George  Fox,  Drs.  Carey  . 
"  and  Morrison,  and  John  Pounds,  among  moral  and  religious 
reformers  ;  and  such  men  as  Hardy,  Holcroft,  and  Thomas 
Cooper,  in  the  sphere  of  politics.  The  name  of  George  Odger 
deserves  a  place  also  in  this  list  of  reformers  and  improvers  of 
the  world,  for  although  his  field  of  labor  was  a  very  humble 
one,  it  was  sufficient  for  the  display  of  fine  qualities  of  mind 
and  heart.  Odger  was  one  of  the  best  specimens  this  country 
has  produced  of  a  powerful '  class  in  modern  society,  called 
"  working-men  politicians."  His  influence  as  a  working-man 
among  the  working-men  of  London  was  unrivalled  in  his  day, 
and  was  always  of  a  wholesome  and  ennobling  character. 
Professor  Fawcett  said  "  he  was  as  good  and  true  a  man  as 
ever  lived,"  paid  a  warm  tribute  to  his  "  rare  intelligence  and 
power  and  eloquence,"  and  added,  moreover,  that  if  the  poor 
shoemaker  "  had  been  born  in  circumstances  in  which  he 
could  have  had  the  advantages  of  education,  there  would  have 
been  for  him  a  career  as  distinguished  as  any  Englishman  had 
achieved."  John  Stuart  Mill  also  held  similar  opinions  in  re- 
gard to  Odger' s  excellent  character  and  remarkable  abilities. 
Other  members  of  Parliament  have  done  honor  to  Odgcr's  worth, 
and  recognized  his  unselfishness  and  patriotism  as  a  leader  of 
the  people.  He  was  no  vulgar  demagogue,  pandering  to 
popular  passion,  and  seeking  fame  and  power  at  any  cost.  His 
appeals  were  always  maxle  to  the  intelligence  of  his  hearers,  and 
his  demands  for  reform  were  based  on  what  he  conscientiously 
regarded  as  principles  of  justice.  Throughout  the  American 
war,  1861—65,  he  sought  to  direct  public  opinion  against  the 
slave-holding  interest. 

George  Odger  was  born  at  Rogborough,  near  Plymouth,  in 
1813.  His  father  was  a  Cornish  miner,  and  so  poor  that  he 
was  obliged  to  send  his  boy  out  to  earn  his  living  at  shoe- 
making  as  soon  as  he  was  able  to  work.  It  goes  without 
saying  that  under  such  circumstances  he  had  no  advantages  of 
education,  and  that  he  was  indebted  to  his  own  efforts  for  any 
measure  of  culture  displayed  in  later  life.  In  his  youthful  days 
he  made  diligent  use  of  every  moment  of  leisure  for  the  purpose 
of  study,  and  acquired  an  amount  of  general  information  which 
was  of  immense  service  to  him  as  a  public  speaker.  His  first 
attempts  at  speaking  were  made  in  connection  with  the  Reform 
movement.  He  rapidly  acquired  influence  among  the  working 


268  ILLUSTRIOUS   SHOEMAKERS. 

class,  and  was  well  known  and  respected  both  in  London  and 
the  provinces  as  a  safe  leader  and  counsellor  of  the  people,  so 
that  in  the  Liverpool  and  Kendal  strikes  he  was  accepted  by 
both  masters  and  men  as  a  mediator.  In  1868  he  stood  for  a 
time  as  a  candidate  for  the  newly  made  borough  of  Chelsea, 
and  in  the  following  year  he  was  accepted  by  a  large  party  as  H 
candidate  for  Stafford,  but  in  each  case  he  retired  from  the 
contest  lest  his  candidature  should  damage  the  interests  of  his 
party.  In  1870  and  1874  he  contested  Southwark  as  a  work- 
ing-man's candidate,  but  was  not  successful.  In  the  former  of 
these  contests  he  polled  only  300  fewer  votes  than  the  elected 
candidate. 

George  Odger  never  followed  any  other  trade  than  that  of  a 
shoemaker,  and  was  always  in  very  humble  circumstances. 
Shortly  before  his  death  a  subscription  was  raised  by  the  Trade 
Union  Congress  at  Newcastle  to  supply  the  wants  of  his  declin- 
ing years,  and  in  consequence  of  the  esteem  in  which  he  was 
held,  "  the  result  was  liberal  and  prompt."  *  After  a  long 
illness  he  died  at  his  residence,  Bloomsbury,  London,  3d 
March,  1877. 

The  honor  done  him  at  his  funeral  was  such  as  many  a 
nobleman  might  envy.  The  Times'  report  of  the  funeral  says  : 
"  The  remains  of  Mr.  Odger  were  borne  to  the  grave  at 
Brompton  Cemetery  with  all  the  honors  of  a  public  funeral. 
The  crowd  around  the  house  of  the  deceased  was  immense. " 
The  Shoemakers'  Society,  to  which  Odger  belonged,  held  the 
foremost  place  in  the  long  procession  which  accompanied  the 
remains  of  this  illustrious  shoemaker  to  the  grave.  Members 
of  the  House  of  Commons,  and  other  men  of  position  and 
influence  in  the  great  city,  stood  side  by  side  with  the  working- 
men  of  Clerkenwell,  Southwark,  and  Bloomsbury,  to  pay  their 
last  tribute  of  esteem  to  the  memory  of  this  truly  estimable 
man. 

*  "  The  Oracle,"  vol.  vi.  pp.  154,  237.     London  :  155  Fleet  Street. 


J.    G.   WHITTIER 


AMERICA. 


NOAH   WORCESTER,  D.D.,  "  THE  APOSTLE  OF 
PEACE.77 

AMERICA  has  her  share  of  illustrious  shoemakers.  The 
United  States  can  boast  of  men  worthy  to  stand  on  a  level  with 
the  best  examples  of  merit  the  gentle  craft  can  produce  in  the 
Old  World.  We  select  four  *'  representative  men"  from  the 
long  list  that  might  be  named,  to  whom  we  shall  chiefly  devote 
our  remaining  space.  These  men  show  in  their  character  and 
life-work  the  best  features  of  the  New  England  type  of  the 
American  citizen.  They  are  men  of  sterling  moral  and  religious 
worth,  intense  haters  of  tyranny  and  slavery,  and  war  and 
intemperance,  "  sound  as  gospel'7  in  their  political  principles, 
"  clear  as  Wenham  ice  "  in  their  transparency  of  character. 

We  are  fain  to  believe  that  every  intelligent  person  in  the 
United  States  knows  the  name  of  Noah  Worcester,  the  "Apostle 
of  Peace,"  as  he  has  been  very  justly  styled.  Every  intelligent 
person  also  on  the  British  side  of  the  Atlantic  ought  to  know 
something  of  this  good  man.  He  was  one  of  the  world's  reform- 
ers, and  commenced  a  movement  which  is  destined  to  deepen 
and  widen  in  its  influence  until  it  becomes  universal,  and 
changes  for  the  better  the  entire  condition  of  mankind.  We 
allude  to  the  establishment  of  the  Peace  Society  of  Massachu- 
setts— the  parent  of  numberless  similar  societies  in  America  and 
Europe.  "  I  well  recollect,"  says  Dr.  Channing,*  u  the  day  of 
its  formation  in  yonder  house,  then  the  parsonage  of  this  parish  ; 
and  if  there  was  a  happy  man  that  day  on  earth  it  was  the 
founder  of  this  institution.  This  Society  gave  birth  to  all  the 
kindred  ones  in  this  country,  and  its  influence  was  felt  abroad. 
Dr.  Worcester  assumed  the  charge  of  its  periodical,  and  de- 
voted himself  for  years  to  this  cause,  with  unabating  faith  and 

*  Sermon  entitled  "  The  Philanthropist,  a  Tribute  to  the  Memory 
of  the  Eev.  Noah  Worcester,  D.D."  Channing's  Works,  People's  Edi- 
tion, vol.  ii.  p.  251,  etc.  Belfast  :  Simms  &  M'Intyre,  1843. 


272  ILLUSTRIOUS   SHOEMAKERS. 

zeal  ;  and  it  may  be  doubted  whether  any  man  who  ever  Jived 
contributed  more  than  he  to  spread  just  sentiment  on  the  subject 
of  war,  and  to  hasten  the  era  of  universal  peace.  He  began 
his  efforts  in  the  darkest  day,  when  the  whole  civilized  world 
was  shaken  by  conflict  and  threatened  with  military  despotism. 
He  lived  to  see  more  than  twenty  years  of  general  peace,  and  to 
see  through  these  years  the  multiplication  of  national  ties,  an 
extension  of  commercial  communications,  an  establishment  of 
new  connections  between  Christians  and  learned  men  through- 
out the  world,  and  a  growing  reciprocity  of  friendly  and 
beneficent  influence  among  different  States,  all  giving  aid  to  the 
principles  of  peace,  and  encouraging  hopes  which  a  century 
ago  would  have  been  deemed  insane." 

Noah  Worcester,  born  at  Hollis,  New  Hampshire,  November 
25th,  1758,  was  the  son  of  a  farmer,  and  until  the  age  of 
twenty-one  worked  on  the  farm.  His  father's  means  were 
limited,  and  the  education  of  the  family  was  stinted  in  conse- 
quence. When  hostilities  commenced  between  the  American 
Colonies  and  Great  Britain,  young  Worcester,  then  only  about 
eighteen  years  of  age,  became  a  soldier  and  fought  at  the  battle 
of  Bunker's  Hill.  It  is  said  that  his  disgust  with  the  vices  of 
soldier  life,  and  horror  at  the  awful  sights  of  the  battle-field, 
drove  him  from  the  army  and  made  him  forever  afterward 
a  hater  of  war  and  an  advocate  of  peace.  Returning  to  farm 
life,  he  divided  his  time  between  outdoor  labor  and  shoe- 
making,  which  occupation  he  followed  when  the  darkness 
of  night  time  or  the  cold  of  winter  prevented  his  working  in  the 
fields.  He  also  betook  himself  earnestly  to  the  work  of  self- 
education.  Like  many  another  shoemaker,  he  made  his  work- 
room his  study.  The  materials  for  the  improvement  of  his 
mind  lay  all  round  his  bench — books,  pens,  ink,  paper,  etc. 
An  early  marriage  increased  the  difficulties  of  his  situation  as  a 
poor  student,  yet  he  managed  by  dint  of  extraordinary  applica- 
tion to  improve  himself  and  become  fit  for  the  ministry  before 
he  had  reached  the  age  of  thirty.  His  first  church  was  small, 
and  his  salary  amounted  to  only  two  hundred  dollars  (£45.) 
Many  of  the  members  were  poor,  and  the  conscientious  pastor 
could  not  allow  them  to  pay  their  share  to  his  support.  On 
this  account  he  often  gave  up  as  much  as  a  quarter  of  his  salary 
in  the  year,  getting  through  as  best  he  could  by  a  little  farming 
and  a  good  deal  of  shoemaking.  When  times  were  bad  he 
turned  his  "  study"  into  a  day-school  and  taught  the  children 
of  his  parishioners  for  nothing.  u  His  first  book  was  a  series  of 


XOAH    WORCESTER,    D.D.  273 

letters  to  a  Baptist  minister,  and  in  this  he  gave  promise  of  the 
direction  the  efforts  of  his  life  were  to  assume. ' '  Its  aim  was 
to  promote  unity  among  men  of  different  denominations. 
Later  on  be  published  a  remarkable  book,  which  made  no  small 
stir  in  its  day,  entitled  <4  Bible  News  Relating  to  the  Father, 
Son,  and  Holy  Spirit  ;"  and  a  second  on  the  same  subject, 
under  the  title  "  Letters  to  Trinitarians/'  u  These  works, " 
says  Channing,  "  obtained  such  favor,  that  he  was  solicited  to 
leave  the  obscure  town  in  which  he  ministered,  and  to  take 
charge  in  this  place  (Brighton,  Mass.)  of  a  periodical  at  first 
called  the  Christian  Disciple,  and  now  better  known  as  the 
Christian  Examiner. ' '  * 

At  length  he  issued,  in  1814,  the  famous  pamphlet  by  which 
his  name  became  known  and  honored  among  Christian  men 
and  lovers  of  peace  throughout  the  world.  It  bore  the  title 
"  A  Solemn  Review  of  the  Custom  of  War."  No  more 
effective  tract  was  ever  printed.  It  was  translated  into 
several  of  the  languages  of  Europe.  The  impression  it  pro- 
duced in  America  led  to  the  formation  of  the  "  Peace  Society 
of  Massachusetts."  Worcester's  views  on  war  were  identical 
with  those  of  the  Society  of  Friends.  "  He  interpreted  liter- 
ally the  precept,  '  Resist  not  evil,'  and  believed  that  nations  as 
well  as  individuals  would  find  safety  as  well  as  fulfil  righteous- 
ness in  yielding  it  literal  obedience.  .  .  .  He  believed 
that  no  mightier  man  ever  trod  the  earth  than  William  Penn 
when  entering  the  wilderness  unarmed,  and  stretching  out  to 
the  savage  a  hand  which  refused  all  earthly  weapons  in  token 
of  peace  and  brotherhood."  So  absorbed  was  he  in  this  great 
theme,  that  he  declared,  eight  years  after  his  famous  pamphlet 
was  issued,  that  "  its  subject  had  not  been  out  of  his  mind  when 
awake  an  hour  at  a  time  during  the  whole  period."  He  died 
at  Brighton,  Mass.,  in  his  eightieth  year,  31st  October,  1838. 
It  was  his  wish  to  have  written  on  his  tombstone  the  words, 
"  He  wrote  the  l  Friend  of  Peace.'  '  Dr.  Channing's  testi- 
mony to  Dr.  Worcester's  character  is  the  highest  one  man  can 
bear  to  another.  He  says,  "Two  views  of  him  particularly 
impressed  me.  The  first  was  the  unity,  the  harmony  of  his 
character.  He  had  no  jarring  elements.  His  whole  nature 
had  been  blended  and  melted  into  one  strong,  serene  love. 
His  mission  was  to  preach  peace,  and  he  preached  it,  not  on  set 
occasions  or  by  separate  efforts,  but  in  his  whole  life.  .  .  . 

*  Written  in  1837. 


274  ILLUSTRIOUS   SHOEMAKERS. 

My  acquaintance  with  him  gave  me  clearer  comprehension  of 
the  spirit  of  Christ  and  the  dignity  of  man." 

Worcester  received  his  degree  of  Master  of  Arts  from 
Dartmouth  College,  and  his  diploma  of  Doctor  of  Divinity 
from  Harvard. 


ROGER  SHERMAN, 

ONE    OF    THE  SIGNERS    OF    THE    DECLARATION    OF  INDEPENDENCE. 

Another  famous  American  citizen,  contemporary  during  the 
early  part  of  his  life  with  Noah  Worcester,  was  Roger 
Sherman,  who  was  born  at  Newton,  Massachusetts,  19th  April, 
1721.  Until  the  age  of  twenty-two  he  was  a  shoemaker,  and 
from  the  age  of  twenty  supported  his  widowed  mother  and  the 
younger  members  of  the  family,  and  found  the  means  to  enable 
two  brothers  to  enter  the  ministry.  At  this  time  he  devoted 
his  leisure  to  the  study  of  mathematics  and  astronomy.  In 
1743  he  laid  aside  the  awl,  and  left  his  native  place  to  settle  at 
New  Milford,  Connecticut,  where  he  joined  his  elder  brother 
in  keeping  a  small  store.  His  accomplishments  very  soon  led  to 
his  appointment  as  surveyor  of  roads.  While  holding  this 
office  he  began  the  study  of  law,  and  made  such  progress  that 
in  1745,  at  the  age  of  twenty-four,  he  was  admitted  to  the 
bar.  In  1748  he  began  to  supply  the  astronomical  calculations 
for  a  New  York  almanac.  His  life  as  a  legislator  commenced 
with  his  membership  of  the  Connecticut  Assembly,  where  he 
held  a  seat  during  several  sessions.  The  appointment  of  Judge 
of  the  Court  of  Common  Pleas  was  given  him  in  1759,  and 
again  in  1765,  at  New  Haven,  whither  he  had  removed  four 
years  previously.  He  was  made  an  assistant  in  1766,  and  held 
the  office  for  nineteen  years.  The  judgeship  was  not  resigned 
until  1789,  part  of  the  time  since  his  appointment  having  been 
spent  on  the  bench  of  the  Superior  Court. 

Roger  Sherman's  connection  with  the  American  Congress  was 
long  and  highly  honorable.  He  became  a  Congressman  in  1774, 
and  served  his  country  faithfully  in  that  capacity  for  nearly 
twenty  years  till  the  time  of  his  death,  at  which  time  he  held  a 
seat  in  the  Senate  of  the  United  States.  He  was  appointed  also 
as  a  member  of  the  Council  of  Safety.  During  the  last  nine 
years  of  his  life  he  was  Mayor  of  New  Haven.  For  many  years 
he  held  the  honorable  office  of  treasurer  of  Yale  College. 


BOGEK   SHERMAN.  275 

In  the  year  1766  Sherman  was  placed  on  the  Commission 
appointed  to  draught  the  Declaration  of  Independence,  and 
he  was  one  of  those  who  afterward  signed  the  Declaration. 
Having  been  one  of  those  who  framed  the  old  "  Articles  of 
Confederation,"  and  a  very  useful  member  of  the  Constitutional 
Convention  of  1787,  his  services  in  obtaining  the  indorsement 
or  ratification  of  the  Constitution  by  his  own  State  Convention 
(i.e.,  of  Connecticut)  were  of  the  utmost  value. 

The  foregoing  statements  will  sufficiently  show  how  well  the 
quondam  shoemaker  of  Massachusetts  earned  the  noble  name  of 
Patriot.  Few  men  in  his 'day  did  more  solid  and  lasting  public 
work.  Although  he  was  a  man  of  remarkably  cool,  deliberate 
judgment,  he  was  none  the  less  an  enthusiast  in  the  cause  of 
political  freedom  and  independence.  During  the  War  of 
Independence  he  urged  his  compatriots  by  every  means  in  his 
power  to  resist  the  English  claims  to  impose  taxation  upon  the 
colonies.  He  never  swerved  for  a  moment  from  the  view  he 
first  took  on  the  crucial  question  of  '*  taxation  without  repre- 
sentation," but  always  avowed  his  firm  conviction  that  "  no 
European  Government  would  ever  give  its  sanction  to  such 
unfair  legislation/'  His  rectitude  and  integrity  were  un- 
impeachable, and  his  "  rare  good  sense"  made  him  a  man  of 
mark  even  among  the  noteworthy  men  of  the  first  Federal 
Congress.  Mr.  Macon  used  to  say  of  him,  "  Roger  Sherman 
had  more  common-sense  than  any  man  I  ever  knew  ;"  and 
Thomas  Jefferson  was  wont  to  declare  that  Roger  Sherman 
was  "  a  man  who  never  said  a  foolish  thing  in  his  life."  To 
this  opinion  of  his  judgment  and  mental  qualities  may  be 
added  a  valuable  estimate  of  his  moral  and  religious  character. 
Goodrich  *  says  that  Sherman  * '  having  made  a  public  prof es- 
sionof  religion  in  early  life,  was  never  ashamed  to  advocate  the 
peculiar  doctrines  of  the  Gospel,  which  are  often  so  unwelcome 
to  men  of  worldly  eminence.  His  sentiments  were  derived  from 
the  Word  of  God,  and  not  from  his  own  reason." 

The  life  of  this  man  of  "  patriot  fame"  f  came  to  an  end 
July  23d,  1793.  His  good  name  is  in  no  danger  of  being  lost 
to  posterity,  for  in  addition  to  his  own  personal  claim  to 
immortality,  he  gave  "  hostages  to  fortune"  in  a  family  of 
fifteen  children,  one  of  whom,  his  namesake,  died  in  1856  at 
the  patriarchal  age  of  eighty-eight. 

*In  "American  Biographical  Dictionary."  Boston  :  J.  P.  Jewett 
&  Co. 

f  See  the  allusion  to  Sherman  in  Whittier's  lines,  given  below. 


276  ILLUSTRIOUS   SHOEMAKERS. 


HENRY  WILSON,  "  THE  NATICK  COBBLER. " 

Among  the  political  leaders  of  modern  times  Henry  Wilson 
long  held  a  conspicuous  place  in  the  United  States.  His  early 
connection  with  the  gentle  craft  procured  for  him  the  familiar 
and  not  unfriendly  sobriquet  "  The  Natick  Cobbler. "  Wilson 
was  born  at  Farmington,  New  Hampshire,  February  16th,  1812. 
From  his  schoolboy  days  until  he  entered  on  political  life  he 
seems  to  have  been  connected  both  with  shoemaking  and  farm- 
ing, but  chiefly  with  the  former  occupation.  Part  of  his  time, 
viz.,  from  1832  to  1837,  he  was  a  thorough-going  son  of  Crispin, 
working  on  the  stool  from  daylight  till  dusk.  From  1837  to 
1840  he  was  still  connected  with  the  trade,  but  in  the  more 
ambitious  position  of  a  "  shoe  manufacturer. "  In  the  year 
1840  he  devoted  himself  to  the  life  of  a  politician.  The  office 
of  President  of  the  Massachusetts  Senate  was  held  by  him  in 
]  851  and  1852.  Three  years  after  this  he  became  a  senator  as 
a  representative  of  the  same  State.  This  honor  he  held  for 
seventeen  years,  that  is,  till  1872.  In  1861  he  was  made 
Colonel  of  the  Twenty-second  Massachusetts  Volunteers.  The 
highest  office  to  which  he  attained  was  that  of  Vice-President 
of  the  United  States,  which  post  he  held  from  1872  to  1875, 
the  year  of  his  death.  Henry  Wilson  was  held  at  the  time  of 
his  death  in  general  and  hearty  esteem  for  the  valuable  services 
which  he  had  rendered  for  thirty-five  years  to  his  country. 
Like  many  another  famous  son  of  St.  Crispin,  The  Natick 
Cobbler  was  a  friend  of  freedom  and  a  sworn  foe  to  all  kinds  of 
tyranny.  For  many  years  he  stood  side  by  side  with  the  best 
men  in  the  Northern  States,  fighting  the  battle  of  liberation 
for  the  slaves,  and  at  last  was  permitted  to  rejoice  with  them 
in  the  triumph  of  the  good  cause. 

One  is  very  much  tempted  to  multiply  instances  of  men  like 
Wilson,  who,  having  begun  life  as  shoemakers,  found  their 
way  into  the  Congress  of  the  United  States.  Seven  such  men 
at  least  have  sat  in  Congress  during  the  present  century.*  It 

*  These  are  Roger  Sherman  and  Henry  Wilson,  already  noticed,  and 
Daniel  Shelf  ey,  Gideon  Lee,  William  Claflin,  John  B.  Alley,  and  H.  P. 
Baldwin.  In  answer  to  the  question,  "  What  shoemaker  has  risen  to 
political  or  literary  eminence  in  the  United  States  ?"  a  writer  in  the 
Philadelphia  Dispatch,  besides  speaking  of  the  four  remarkable 
men  we  have  selected  as  examples,  says,  "There  are  other  famous 
names  of  graduates  from  that  profession.  Daniel  Sheffey  of  Virginia 


J.    G.    WHITTIER.  277 

may  also  be  mentioned  here  that  Franklin  in  his  Autobiography 
speaks  of  a  member  of  the  Junto,  a  "  William  Parsons,  bred  a 
shoemaker,  but  loving  reading,  who  acquired  a  considerable 
share  of  mathematics, "  and  "  became  surveyor-general  ;"  and 
that  Philip  Kirtland,  a  shoemaker  from  Sherrington,  Bucking- 
hamshire, who  settled  at  Lynn,  Mass.,  in  1635,  was  the  founder 
of  the  immense  trade  in  boots  and  shoes  for  which  that  city 
has  obtained  an  unrivalled  name  throughout  the  States. 


J.  G.  WHITTIER,  "THE   QUAKER  POET." 

The  last  name  we  have  to  give  in  this  long,  but  still  in- 
complete, list  of  illustrious  shoemakers  is  that  of  John  Greenleaf 
Whittier,  who  happily  is  still  living  to  charm  and  educate  the 
English-speaking  people  on  both  sides  of  the  Atlantic  with  his 
simple,  spirit-stirring  poetry.  Whittier  is  frequently  spoken 
of  in  the  States  as  the  Quaker  Poet.  This  designation  is  suffi- 
ciently distinctive,  for  poets  are  not  very  numerous  in  the  So- 
ciety of  Friends.  Preachers,  patriots,  philanthropists,  orators, 
and  writers  of  prose  are  numerous  enough,  but  poets  are  very 
hard  to  find  in  this  intensely  earnest  and  practical  religious 
community. 

Like  his  coreligionists  in  every  generation  since  the  days  of 
George  Fox  and  William  Penn,  WThittier  is  "  right  on  all 
points"  relating  to  social  and  religious  reform.  The  assistance 
his  vigorous,  thrilling  lines  have  given  to  every  philanthropic 

learned  the  trade,  and  worked  at  it  many  years,  andfrom  1809  to  1817 
represented  his  district  in  the  Congress  of  the  United  States.  His 
retort  to  John  Randolph  of  Roanoke,  who  taunted  him  onthe  floor  of 
Congress  with  his  former  occupation,  was,  '  The  difference,  sir,  be- 
tween my  colleague  and  myself  is  this,  that  if  his  lot  had  been  cast 
like  mine  in  early  life,  instead  of  rising,  by  industry,  enterprise,  and 
study,  above  his  calling,  and  occupying  a  seat  on  this  floor,  he  would 
at  this  time  be  engaged  in  making  shoes  on  the  bench. '  .  .  .  Gideon 
Lee,  a  mayor  of  New  York  City,  and  a  member  of  Congress  from  about 
1840  to  1844,  was  a  working  shoemaker,  and  afterward  a  leather 
dealer.  WUliam  Clqflin,  an  ex-governor  of  Massachusetts  and  a  mem- 
ber of  Congress,  worked  at  the  shoemaker' s  trade  when  young,  and  is 
now  at  the  head-  of  a  very  large  shoe-manufacturing  firm.  John  B. 
Alley,  an  ex-member  of  Congress  from  Massachusetts,  was  in  the  shoe 
trade,  as  was  also  H.  P.  Baldwin,  ex-governor  of  Michigan,  and  ex- 
member  of  Congress  from  that  State." 


278  ILLUSTRIOUS   SHOEMAKERS. 

movement  in  the  United  States  is  beyond  calculation.  For 
many  years  he  was  the  Hans  Sachs  or  Ebenezer  Elliott  of  the 
Liberation  cause,  giving  similar  help  by  his  songs  to  the  work 
of  emancipation  in  America  to  that  which  the  German  gave  to 
the  cause  of  Protestantism  on  the  continent  of  Europe,  and  the 
Englishman  gave  to  the  labors  of  the  Anti-Corn  Law  League  in 
Great  Britain. 

His  father  was  a  farmer  at  Haverhill,  Massachusetts,  where 
the  poet  was  born  in  1807.  He  remained  on  the  farm  until  he 
was  nearly  nineteen  years  of  age,  and  divided  his  time  between 
field-work  and  shoemaking.  In  1825  he  was  sent  to  a  college 
belonging  to  the  Society  of  Friends.  Four  years  after  this  he 
became  editor  of  The  American  Manufacturer,  which  office  he 
held  for  only  twelve  months,  and  then  resigned  in  order  to 
take  the  management  of  the  New  England  Weekly  Review. 
In  1832  he  went  back  to  the  old  home,  worked  on  the  farm, 
and  edited  The  Haverhill  Gazette.  Twice  he  represented 
Haverhill  in  the  State  Legislature.  All  through  life  he  has 
been  a  strong  and  consistent  anti-slavery  advocate,  and  at 
various  times  has  been  made  secretary  of  societies  and  editor  of 
papers  whose  aim  has  been  the  abolition  of  slavery.  About 
1838-39  he  became  the  editor  of  the  Pennsylvania  Freeman, 
an  ardent  anti-slavery  paper.  It  required  no  small  amount  of 
courage  to  advocate  freedom  for  the  slave  in  those  days.  On 
one  occasion  Whittier's  office  was  surrounded  by  a  mob,  who 
plundered  and  set  fire  to  the  building.  His  published  works 
in  prose  and  verse  are  very  numerous,  beginning  with  the 
"  Legends  of  New  England"  in  1831,  and  coming  down  to 
volumes  of  verse  like  "  The  King's  Missive,  Mabel  Martin, 
and  Later  Poems/'  etc.,  *  published  within  the  last  few  years. 
Through  all  his  writings  there  runs  a  healthy  moral  tone,  and 
his  poetry  is  no  less  distinguished  for  purity  of  sentiment  than 

*  In  a  review  of  this  last  volume  of  Whittier's  poems  (Macmillan  & 
Co.),  a  writer  in  the  AtJienaum  (February  18th,  1882)  gives  the  fol- 
lowing just  estimate  of  Whittier's  character  and  merits  as  a  man  and  a 
poet :  "  The  poems  in  this  collection  .  .  .  show  that  delicate  appre- 
hension of  nature,  that  deep-seated  sympathy  with  suffering  mankind, 
that  unwavering  love  of  liberty  and  all  things  lovable,  that  earnest 
belief  in  a  spirit  of  beneficence  guiding  to  right  issues  the  affairs  of 
the  world,  that  beautiful  tolerance  of  differences — in  a  word,  all  those 
high  qualities  which,  being  fused  with  imagination,  make  Mr.  Whit- 
tier,  not  indeed  an  analytical  and  subtle  poet,  nor  a  poet  dealing  with 
great  passions,  but  what  he  is  emphatically,  the  apostle  of  all  that  is 
pure,  fair,  and  morally  beautiful. 


J.    G.    WHITTIER.  279 

for  sweetness  of  numbers  and  true  poetic  fire.  No  man  in 
New  England,  nor,  indeed,  in  the  States,  has  earned  a  better 
title  to  the  thanks  and  esteem  of  his  fellow-countrymen  than 
the  "  Quaker  Poet,"  who  began  the  hard  work  of  life  by 
blending  the  duties  of  the  farm  with  the  occupation  of  a  shoe- 
maker. Whittier  College  at  Salem,  Iowa,  was  established  and 
named  in  his  honor. 

Whittier  has  never  forgotten  his  connection  with  the  gentle 
craft  in  early  life  ;  nor  has  he  been  ashamed  to  own  fellowship 
with  its  humble  but  worthy  members.  What  he  thinks  of  the 
craft  itself,  and  of  the  spirit  of  the  men  who  have  followed  it, 
may  be  learned  from  his  lines  addressed  to  shoemakers  in  the 
"  Songs  of  Labor/7  published  in  1850  : 


TO   SHOEMAKEES. 

Ho  !  workers  of  the  old  time,  styled 
The  Gentle  Craft  of  Leather  ! 
Young  brothers  of  the  ancient  guild, 
Stand  forth  once  more  together  ! 
Call  out  again  your  long  array, 
In  the  olden  merry  manner  ! 
Once  more,  on  gay  St.  Crispin's  Day, 
Fling  out  your  blazoned  banner  ! 

Rap,  rap  !  upon  the  well-worn  stone 

How  falls  the  polished  hammer  ! 

Kap,  rap  !  the  measured  sound  has  grown 

A  quick  and  merry  clamor. 

Now  shape  the  sole  !  now  deftly  curl 

The  glossy  vamp  around  it, 

And  bless  the  while  the  bright-eyed  girl 

Whose  gentle  fingers  bound  it  ! 

For  you,  along  the  Spanish  main 
A  hundred  keels  are  ploughing  ; 
For  you,  the  Indian  on  the  plain 
His  lasso-coil  is  throwing  ; 
For  you,  deep  glens  with  hemlock  dark 
The  woodman's  fire  is  lighting  ; 
For  you,  upon  the  oak's  gray  bark 
The  woodman's  axe  is  smiting. 


280  ILLUSTRIOUS   SHOEMAKERS. 

For  you,  from  Carolina's  pine 

The  rosin-gum  is  stealing  ; 

For  you,  the  dark-eyed  Florentine 

Her  silken  skein  is  reeling  ; 

For  you,  the  dizzy  goatherd  roams 

His  rugged  Alpine  ledges  ; 

For  you,  round  all  her  shepherd  homes 

Bloom  England's  thorny  hedges. 

The  foremost  still,  by  day  or  night, 
On  moated  mound  or  heather, 
Where'er  the  need  of  trampled  right 
Brought  toiling  men  together  ; 
Where  the  free  burghers  from  the  wall 
Defied  the  mail-clad  master, 
Than  yours,  at  Freedom's  trumpet-call, 
No  craftsmen  rallied  faster. 

Let  foplings  sneer,  let  fools  deride — 

Ye  heed  no  idle  scorner  ; 

Free  hands  and  hearts  are  still  your  pride. 

And  duty  done  your  honor. 

Ye  dare  to  trust,  -for  honest  fame, 

The  jury  Time  empanels, 

And  leave  to  truth  each  noble  name 

Which  glorifies  your  annals. 

Thy  songs,  Hans  Sachs,  are  living  yet, 

In  strong  and  hearty  German  ; 

And  Bloomfield's  lay,  and  Gilford's  wit, 

And  patriot  fame  of  Sherman  ; 

Still  from  his  book,  a  mystic  seer, 

The  soul  of  Behmen  teaches, 

And  England's  priestcraft  shakes  to  hear 

Of  Fox's  leathern  breeches. 

The  foot  is  yours  ;  where'er  it  falls, 

It  treads  your  well- wrought  leather, 

On  earthen  floor,  in  marble  halls, 

On  carpet,  or  on  heather. 

Still  there  the  sweetest  charm  is  found 

Of  matron  grace  or  vestal's, 

As  Hebe's  foot  bore  nectar  round 

Among  the  old  celestials  ! 


J.    G.    WHITTIER.  281 

Rap,  rap  !  your  stout  and  bluff  brogan, 

With  footsteps  slow  and  weary, 

May  wander  where  the  sky's  blue  span 

Shuts  down  upon  the  prairie. 

On  beauty's  foot,  your  slippers  glance 

By  Saratoga's  fountains, 

Or  twinkle  down  the  summer  dance 

Beneath  the  crystal  mountains  ! 

The  red  brick  to  the  mason's  hand, 

The  brown  earth  to  the  tiller's, 

The  shoe  in  yours  shall  wealth  command, 

Like  fairy  Cinderella's  ! 

As  they  who  shunned  the  household  maid 

Beheld  the  crown  upon  her, 

So  all  shall  see  your  toil  repaid 

With  heart  and  home  and  honor. 

Then  let  the  toast  be  freely  quaffed, 
In  water  cool  and  brimming — 
44  All  honor  to  the  good  old  Craft 
Its  merry  men  and  women  !" 
Call  out  again  your  long  array, 
In  the  old  time's  pleasant  manner  : 
Once  more,  on  gay  St.  Crispin's  Day, 
Fling  out  his  blazoned  banner. 


INDEX. 


ADULT  schools  at  Gainsborough,  started 

by  J.  F.  Winks  and  T.  Cooper,  171 
Akiba,  Ben  Joseph,  194,  195 
Alexander  of  Coniaiia,  193 
Alexandria,  the  pious  cobbler  of,  19S 
Alley,  John  B.,  277 
Andersen,  Hans  C  ,  210 
Angling,  book  on,  by  Younger,  246,  247 
Annianus  of  Alexandria,  192 
Ansell  and  the  battle  of  Aughrim,  245 
Apelles  and  the  cobbler,  191 
Ashmole,  Elias,  and  Partridge,  221 
Askham,  John,  248 
Athenaeum,  quoted  from,  115,  247,  278 

BALDWIN,  H.  P  ,  277 

Baptist  jubilee  memorial,  131 

Baptist  missions  commenced  by  Carey 
and  Thomas,  141,  142 

Barebones,  Praise  God,  216 

Baudouin,  the  learned,  200 

Baviad  and  Mseviad,  75,  82,  86-7 

Benbow  and  nautical  songs,  17 

Bennet,  John,  poet,  229 

Bennett,  Timothy,pf  Harnpton-Wick,212 

Bentinck,  Lady,  visits  Carey  when  dy- 
ing, 146 

Bemdge,  John,  and  John  Thorp,  257 

Blacket,  Joseph,  236,  242 

Blanshard's  Life  of  Bradburn,  65,  66, 67, 
70 

Bloomfleld  and  Blacket,  239 

Bloomfleld,  George,  94,  95,  96,  238 

Bloomfield,  Nathaniel,  94,  96,  98,  239 

Bloomfielcl,  Robert,  a  farmer's  boy  at 
Sapiston,  94 

a  ladies'  shoemaker,  171 

becomes  a  shoemaker,  94,  95 

Birth  and  childhood,  94 

his  first  poems,  96,  97 

his  mother,  94,  102 

his  last  years,  death,  and  burial, 

101 

life  in  London,  94,  101 

list  of  his  poems,  96, 97,  102-3 

marriage  of,  98 

method  of  composing  "The  Far- 
mer's Boy,"  98 

poetical  tributes  in  "Blackwood." 

etc.,  102,  103 

Bloomfield,  Robert,  publishes  "The 
Farmer's  Boy,"  99 

Boehmen,  Jacob,  the  mystic,  205-207 

opinions  of,  by  Charles  I.,  William 

Law,  &c.,  206 


Bowden,  Mr.,  of  Tannton,  Lackington's 

master,  34 

Bradburn,  Samuel,  and  Charles  Wesley, 
66 

and  the  clergyman,  68,  69 

anecdotes  of  early  preaching,  68 

born  at  Gibraltar,  54 

called  to  be  a  preacher,  61 

circuits  he  travelled  in,  64, 65,  66,  71 

death  and  burial,  71 

early  life  at  Chester,  55-60 

eloquence  as  a  preacher,  67,  68 

his  conversion,  55-57 

his  father  pressed  into  th-earmy,  54 

his  first  sermon,  61 

his  marriage  with  Betsy  Nangle,  65 

his  marriage  with  Sophia  Cooke,  66 

his  mother  a  Welshwoman,  54 

his  mother's  death,  n«te,  63 

his  wit  and  hamor,  anecdotes  of, 

70,71 

— • —  offered  the  pastorate  of  an  Indepen- 
dent Church,  66 

overtaken  in  a  fault,  71 

President  of  Wesleyan  Conference, 

67 

Brizzio,  Francesco,  208 
Bnice's  "  Elegy  written  m  Spring,"  322 
Buch,  Henry  Michael,  "Good  Henry,'1 

201-203     ' 

Banyan  and  Bradbum  compared,  56 
Burnet,  Rev.  John,  259-262 
Bushey  Park  and  Timothy  Bennett,  213 
Byron,  Lord,  allusion  to  Gifford,  93 

CAMPION'S  "  Delightful  History  of  ye 

Gentle  Craft,"  193,  199,542,259 
Capellini,  il  Caligarino,  207 
Carey  and  Thomas  sail  for  India,  142 
Carey,  Eustace,  "  Life  of  Dr.  Carey,"  131 
William,  abilities  as  a  shoemaker, 

131 

and  Rev.  John  Ryiand,  131, 138 

an  enthusiast,  131,  132 

apprenticed  to  a  siioeniaker,  133 

baptized  by  Rev.  J.  Ryiand,  135 

D.D.  conferred  on  him  by  Brown 

University,  144 

first  Bengali  New  Testament,  143 

first  marriage  a  mistake,  137 

first  sermon  and  pastorate,  135 

first  study  of  languages,  132, 133, 135 

first  thought  of  missions  to  heathen, 

138 
his  death,  146 


284 


INDEX. 


Carey,  William  his  famous  sermon  at 
Nottingham,  141 

hi«  self-sacrificing  spirit,  143 

life  briefly  ricetcBtd,  129,  130 

lifi;  in  India.  142,  146 

lives  at  iMoulton,  137,  139 

"  Only  a  Cobbler,"  133 

pamphlet  on  Missions,  140 

parentage  and  birth  and  childhood, 

131, 132 

Professor  of  Oriental  Languages, 

Calcutta,  129,  143 

removes  to  Leicester,  140 

Carlisle,  Qifford's  guardian,  205 
Carlyle  on  Hans  Sacks,  76,  77,  205 

Thomas,  and  Thomas  Cooper,  184 

Carter,  Edward,  Esq.,  friend  to  John 

Pounds,  151,  157 

Cartel!,  Richard,  "Ye  Cocke  of  West- 
minster," 210 
Caxton  Printing  Establishment  and  S. 

Drew,  121 

Chambers  "  Book  of  Days,"  217 
Channingon  Noah  Worcester,  271.  273 
Charley  Rev. Thomas,  of  Bala,  I'.D 
Chartists  and  Thomas  Cooper,  170,  182 
Chiirtiet  Newspapers  edited  by  Thomas 

Cooper,  181 
Christ's  Hospital  and  Richard  Cnstell, 

121 
Claflin,  Wiiliam,  Governor  of  Massachu- 

se'ts,  277 
Clarke,  Dr.  Adam,  and  Samuel  Drew, 

114,  122 

Coke,  Dr.,  and  S.  Drew,  122,  153 
Coleridge,  S.  T.,  and  Boehmen,  208 

and  shoemakers,  189 

Cooksley,  Dr.,  Gilford's  friend,  80,  81 

William,  son  of  Dr.  Cooksley,  Gif- 

ford's  will  in  favor  of,  86 
Cooper,  Robert,  mistaken  for  Thomas 

Cooper,  186 
Cooper,  Thomas,  a  copyist  at  the  Board 

of  Health,  186 

Cooper,  Thomas,  and  "  Stamford  Mer- 
cury," 178 

a  sceptic,  his  lectures  as,  185  ;  foot- 
note, 186 

as  a  lecturer  on  Christianity,  187 

becomes  a  shoemaker,  169 

birth  and  parentage,  165 

childhood  at  Exeter,  165-167 

early  studies  while  a  shoemaker, 

169-175 

Cooper,  Thomas,  editorship  and  author- 
ship in  1848-49,  185 

final    conversion   to    Christianity, 

185,  186 

first  poem,  170 

his  connection  with  the  Methodists, 

177,  178 

his  excessive  studies,  175, 176 

his  first  published  poems,  17^ 

in  Stafford  jail,  182-3 

lecmres  at  City  Hall,  London,  on 

Theism,  186 

life  in  Leicester,  180-3 

life  in  Lincoln,  177 

life  in  London,  179-180 


Cooper,  Thomas,  list  of  his  writings, 

181-7 

marries  Miss  Jobson,  177 

professes  Christianity  in  Baptism 

by  immersion,  185 

schoolboy  days,  168.  1C9 

i-eis  up  «t  school,  110 

the  railway  accident,  186 

Trial  at  fctallord  and  in  London, 

182-3 

Crag^s,  Secretary,  216 
Crispin  andCrispianus,  197-199 
Crispin  anecdotes,  198-216,  223,  228,  242 
Crocker,  Charles,  247,  248 
Cromwell  and  Fox,  249-51 
Cruickshank  and  O'Neill,  244-6 
Cnrwen's  4l  History  of  Booksellers,"  87, 

45,83 

D'ALBRIONE,  Si<rnor,  178 

Davies,  Ann.  Gifford's  lines  on,  68,  87 

Dekker,  Thomas,  228 

Delia  Cruscan  School.  75,  82 

Deloney's  '-History  of  Gentle  Craft,'1 

199.228 

Dennis,  friend  of  Lackington,  40 
Devlin,  Janies,  242 
Di-y  of  Tripoli  and  Lieutenant  Shovel, 

2021 

Disraeli,  Mr.,  and  Thomas  Cooper,  183 
"Dramatist^,  Early  English,"  cuiteu  by 

Gifford,  75,  82     " 

Drew,  Samuel,  as  a  preacher,  122,  123 
as  editor  and  author,  list  of  works, 

130-141 

apprenticeship  days,  111-113 

attempts  at  poetry,  118-119 

begins  to  study,  114-115 

birth  and  childhood.  110-111 

competes  for  prize  of  £1500,  122 

conversion,    joins  the  Wesley ans. 

114 

Defence  of  the  Methodists,  119 

his  generosity,  117 

his  method  of  writing  books  wh'.le 

a  shoemaker,  121 
his    works  on  immortality  of  tho 

soul,  120 

honors  conferred  on,  123,  124 

last  days,  124 

lives  in  Liverpool  and  London,  124 

marriage,  118 

narrow  escape  from  drowning,  113 

quits  the  shoemaker's  stall,  122 

starts  in  business  on  £5,  his  thrift, 

116 

the  midnight  visitor,  118 

writes  "Remarks  on Paine's  Age  of 

Reason,"  118 
Duncombe,  T.  S.,  M.P.,  and  Thomas 

Cooper,  183 

ELLIOTT,  Ebenezer.  and  John  Younger, 

246 
Eyre,  Sir  Simon.  Lord  Mayor  of  London, 

22* 

FLETCHER,  vicar  of  Madely  and  Brad- 
burn,  02 


INDEX. 


285 


Foster,  John,  242 

Fox,  George,  249 

Fullarton's  "Lives  of  Eminent  English- 
men," 84 

Fuller,  Rev. Andrew,  the  friend  of  Carey, 
138,  141 

GAINSBOROUGH  the  painter,  93 

Gentle  Craft,  etc.,  origin  of  the  terms, 

note,  193 

George  III.  and  Shillitoe,  254 
Gifford,  William,  and  Lord  Grosvenor, 

81,82 

childhood  and  youth,  76,  79 

editorship  of  London  "  Quarterly,1' 

75,  76,  83,  84 

first  attempts  at  verse,  79 

his  character,  83,  84 

parentage  and  birth.  76 

private  tutor  to  Lord  Belgrave,81 

story  of  the  candle,  84 

translauons   of  Persius  and  Juve- 
nal, 82 
works  his  sums  on  pieces  of  leather, 

73 

Goethe's  opinion  of  Hans  Sacks,  204 
Grat't.ou,  the  duke  of,  and  Bloomfield, 

100 
Grainger's  "  Biographical  History,"  215, 

218,  219 

Gray's  Elegy,  232 
Gregory  Thaumaturgns,  143 
Grosveiior,  Lord,  a  friend  to  Giflord,  81, 

82 
Guilds  or  fraternities  of  shoemakers  in 

Paris,  201-203 

Guthrie,  Dr.,  anecdotes  and  stories,  151 
on  John  Pounds,  151,  152 

HALIFAX,  Lord,  and  Timothy  Bennett, 
212,  213 

Hanley,  Thomas  Cooper's  speech  at,  182 

Hardy,  Thoma-s  265,  206 

"  Helmsley,"  the  tune,  who  composed 
it?  234  " 

Hewson,  Colonel,  the  Cerdon  of  Hudi- 
bras,  21.5-217 

Holeroft,  Thomas,  234 

Hook,  Dr.,  of  Leeds,,  and  Thomas  Coop- 
er, 186 

Howard,  John,  139 

Hudibras  and  Colonel  Hewson,  217 

Hugh,  Saint,  228 

Huntingdon,  William,  S.  S.,  257-8 

IMPERIAL  Dictionary  of  Biography,  244 

257 

Iphicrates,  219 
Ireland,  Dr.,  Lines  to,  by  Gifford,  96 

JACKSON'S  Lives  of  Methodist  Preach- 
ers, 232 

Jameson,  Mrs.,  on  S.  Crispin  legendary 
art,  199 

Jefferson  on  Roger  Sherman,  275 

Jerrold,  Douglas,  and  Thomas  Cooper, 
183,  184 

Jochanan,  Rabbi,  194 

Johnstone,  J.,  242 


Jones,  John,  friend  of  Lackington,  35 
Jong,  Ludolph  de,  209 

KETTERING,  first  collection  for  Baptist 

.  Missions,  141 
Kingsley,   Rev.    Charles,  and   Thomas 

Cooper,  186 

Kirtland,  Philip,  of  Lynn,  Mass.,  277 
Kitto,  Rev.  John,  D.D.,  261-4 
Knowles,  Herbert,  "  Lines,"  etc.,  232 
Kri^hnu,  Carey's  first  convert  in  India, 

note,  146 

LAW,  William,  and  Boehtnen,  206 
Lackington,  James,  and  bargain-hunt- 
ers, 39 

apprenticeship.  33.  34 

benefactions  to  Wesleyan  denomi, 

nation,  47 

birth  and  parentage,  31 

boyhood,  vender  of  pies,  almanacs, 

etc.,  32 

business  and  profits  in  1791,  44 

buys  Young's  "Night  Thoughts," 

38 

courage  as  a  boy— the  ghost  story, 

32  , 

death  and  burial,  47 

extensive  purchases,  42 

first  sale  catalogue,  40 

gives    up    shoelnakiug   for   book> 

selling,  38 

goes  to  London,  1774, 37 

helped  by  the  Week-yaii  Fund,  39 

kindness  to  his  relatives,  46 

life  in  Bristol,  35,  36 

marries  Nancy  Smith,  36 

"  Memoirs  and  Confessions,"  29 

motto  for  the  door  of  his  carriage, 

30 

"  No  credit  "  system,  41,  42 

reads  Epictetus,  etc.,  35 

retires  from  business,  1798,  45 

second  marriage,  40 

sets  up  a  "  chariot  "  and  "  country- 
house,"  44 

starts  as  bookseller,  38 

strictures  oruthe  Wesleyans,  29 

•'  Temple  of  the  Mnses,"  29,  45 

tour  through    England   and    Scot- 
land, 45,  46 

Lamb,  Charles,  on  Shoemakers,  91,  227 
Lacroix,    "  Manners   and    Customs    of 

Middle  Ages,'   198 
Lee,  Dr.  Samuel,  172 

Gideon,  Mayor  of  New  York,  277 

"Leisure Hour,"  articles  on  shoemak- 
ers, 211 

Leao,  John  B.,  248 
Lestage,  Nicholas,  of  Bordeaux,  203 
Let  the  cobbler  stick  to  his  last,  191 
"  Literary  Gazette  "  on  Gifford,  93,  94 
Living   examples    of   illustrious   shoe- 
makers, 248 

Llandaif,  Earl  of,  and  O'Neill,  245 
Lofft,  Capel,  99,  239,  243 

MACKAY.  of  Norwich,  225 

Macon,  Mr.,  on  Roger  Sherman,  275 


286 


INDEX. 


Madati,  Martin,  and  "  Helmsley,"  234 
Marriage,  remarks  on,  136,  137 
Marshman's  "  Carey,   Marshinan,    and 
Ward,"  131,  144,  145 

John  Clarke,  author   of   "Carey, 

Marshman,  and  Ward,11  145 
Mr.,   Dr.  Carey's  friend  and  col- 
league, 143,  145 

Meistersingers  of  Germany,  204 
Men's  and  \V omen's  conscia  recti,  225-6 
Milbanke,  Miss  (Lady  Byron)  and  Black- 

et,  241 
Miller,  Thomas,  and  Thomas  Cooper, 

173,  180         * 
Montgomery.  Jae.,  and  Thomas  Cooper, 

177 

Morrison,  Rev.  Robert,  D.D.,  258,  25? 
Mutual  Improvement  Society  at  Gains- 
borough and  T.  Cooper,  171 
Murray,    John,  and  Giflord's  editorial 

stipend,  83,  84 

Murray,  John,  his  "  drawing-rooms,"  83 
Myngs,  Sir  Christopher,  19,  28,  219 

NARBOROUGH,  Sir  John,  19-21,  219 
Newton,  Sir  Isaac,  and  Boehmen,  206 
Nichol,  Rev.  James,  239 
Notes  and  Queries,  225 

ODGER,  George,  266-8 

Olivers,  Thomas,  234 

O'Neill,  John,  temperance  poet,  244-6 

"  Oracle,"  The,  268 

PARSONS,  William,  of  the  Junto,  277 

Partridge,  Dr.  ,220-3 

Peace  Societies,  founded  in  America, 
273 

Peel,  Sir  Robert,  and  shoemakers,  266 

Polwhrle,  Rev.  Mr.,  and  S.  Drew,  120 

Pope  John  XXII.,  209 

Pope  and  Partridge,  221 

and  Savage,  230 

Portraits  of  naval  officers  at  Greenwich, 
219 

Pounds,  John,  begins  teaching  poox  chil- 
dren, 153,  154 

birth  and  childhood,  152,  153 

gratitude  of  his  old  scholars,  156 

his  death,  157 

his  workroom  described,  153,  154 

kindness  to  his  scholars,  156 

memorials  of,  in  Portsmouth,  158 

method  of  teaching,  155-157 

the  roasted  potato,  155 

Pressgang,  53 

"  Purgatory  of  suicides,"  179, 183 

Purver,  Anthony,  226 

"QUARTERLY Review,"  227,  243 

on  Baptist  Missionary  Society,  141, 

142 
Quarterlies,  the  Edinburgh  and  London,. 

75,  83,  84 

RAGGED  schools,  John  Pounds  a  found- 
er of,  151, 152 

Raikes,  Robert  and  Sophia  Cookjp  start 
first  Sunday-school,  66 


Reading,  growth  of  about  1790  ;  Lack- 

ington's  remarks  on,  43 
Rigby,  Richard,  ballad-writer,  227,  228 
Robinson,  lienry  Crabb,  Diary,  206, 257, 

266 

Rousseau,  Jean  Baptiste,  209 
Rowe,  J.  B.,  228 
Russell,  Admiral,  22 

SACHS,  Hans,  the  Nightingale  of  the  Ref- 
ormation, 203-205 

Sandon,  Lord,  and  Thomas  Cooper, 
188 

Savage,  Richard,  230 

Scott,  Rev.  Thomas,  the  Commentator, 
and  Carey,  113,  114 

Service,  David.  2-12 

Sheaf,  Mr.,  Shoemaker  and  artist,  and 
John  Pounds,  151,  157 

Sheffey,  Daniel,  of  Virginia,  276 

Shenstone  and  Woodhouse,  228 

Sherman,  Koger,  274.  275 

Shillitoe,  Thomas,  251,  255 

Shoemakers  and  literature,  75 

Shoemaker's  holiday,  the,  227 

Shoemakers,  largo  proportion  of  emi- 
nent men,  181),  190 

Shovel,  Captain,  knighted  by  William 
III.,  22 

Shovel,  Cloudesley,  made  captain,  21 

Shovel,  Sir  C  ,  admiral  of  the  Blue  and 
Red  and  White,  22 

at  battle  of  "  La  Hogue,"  22 

at  battle  of  Malaga.  23 

at  capture  of  Barcelona,  23 

at  the  siege  of  \Vateribi  d,  22 

death  by  drowning,  23,  24 

epitaph,  17 

exploit  as  cabin  boy,  19,  20 

>  exploit  as  lieutenant,  20,  21 

governor  of  Greenwich  Hospital, 

note,  24 

M.P.  for  Rochester,  note,  24 

portraits  of,  17,  24 

presented  to  Queen  Anne,  23 

William  III.'s  opinion  of,  23 

Sibly,  Dr.  Ebenezer,  222,  223 

Sibly,  Manoah,  266 

Smerdon,  Rev.  T.,  prepares  Gifford  for 
Oxford,  81 

Smith,  Sidney,  75,  130,  145 

Sons  of  shoemakers,  209 

Souters  of  Selkirk,  213-215 

Southey,  Robert,  230,  255 

Southey's  article  in  "Quarterly  Review" 
on  Carey,  etc.,  note,  141,  142, 145 

Strut  hers,  John,  243 

Sturgeon,  William,  electrician,  264,  265 

Sunday-school,  the  first,  66,  139 

Sutclitfe,  Rev.  John,  the  friend  of  Ca- 
rey, 136,  138,  140 

Swift  and  Partridge,  222 

TYERMAN'S  Life  of  Wesley,  233 
Toplady  and  Olivers,  233 
Tinlinn,  Watt,  214,  215 
Timmins,  Rev.  T.,  remarks    on  John 
Pounds,  154-156 


INDEX. 


287 


Ticlibotirne,  Sir  Thomas,  Lord  Mayor 

oi'  London,  227 
Thorp,  John,  255-7 
Thomas,  Mr.,  Carey's  colleague  in  first 

mission  work,  141,  142 

VALUE  of  books  in  1775,  note,  39 

WARTON,  Thomas,  and  John  Bennet 

229 

Watts,  Dr.  Isaac,  210 
Wesley,  John,  and  Bradburn,  60,  63,  64, 

65,  68.  71 

and  Olivers,  231-34 

and  Thorpe,  255 

Weever's  "  Funeral  Monuments,"  note, 

Whately,  Archbishop,  189 

White,  Henry  Kirke,  lines  on  Bloom- 
field,  103 

Whitefield,  George,  and  Olivers,  232 

Whittaker,  Rev.  John,  and  S.  Drew 
120,  122 


Whittier,  John  Greenleaf,  227,  2*29 
— -  lines  to  "Shoemakers,1'  27S-281 
Wilberibrce,  William,  remarks  on  Ca- 
rey, 138 

Williams,  Dr.  Edward.  256 
Wilson,  Jjishop,  friendship  with  Carey, 

Wilson,  Gavin,  242 

Wilson,    Henry,   the   Natick    cobbler, 

Wilson,  Professor,  his  opinion  of  Bloom- 
field's  poetry,  100 

Wincklemann,  J.  J.,  209 

Winnifred,  Saint,  227 

Winks,  Joseph,  Foulkes,  and  Thomas 
Cooper,  171,  180,  186 

Wo'fe's  «'  Burial  of  Sir  J.  Moore,"  232 

Woodhouse,  James,  228 

Worcester,  Noah,  D.D.,  271-4 

Wordsworth  and  Thomas  Cooper,  184 

YE  Cocke  of  Westminster,  Richard  Ca*. 
Younger,  John,  246-7 


THE    END. 


288 

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